


Harry Potter and the return to the First life

by dEBB987



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Overlord - Maruyama Kugane & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen, Master of Death Harry Potter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2019-02-09 22:13:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 42,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12897927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dEBB987/pseuds/dEBB987
Summary: Harry has been living in the new world for 200 years. He had his own country and Nazarik had evolved quite nicely. With his luck though, he shouldn't have been surprised when his peace was disturbed by a summoning ritual, his old world requesting the presence of the Master of Death. How will Voldemort react when MOD!Harry and Nazarik's NPCs are summoned to end the war? How will normal!Harry? No bashing. Somewhat related to my other story "The Master of Death in Nazarik" but you don't need to read it in order to understand this one.





	1. Prologue

Prologue

**Author: dEBB987    Beta: Nyx the Author**

Two centuries had passed since he first arrived to this world. Nazarick had prospered quite nicely, and his small nation stood tall and proud among the realm, with a reputation to accept and accommodate all races in complete harmony.

Harry was sitting behind his desk, receiving the bi-weekly report from his faithful servants. Some reports he received in documents, but others were still too delicate to be written, so they would come to him personally.

The NPCs in front of him were presenting their updates. Albedo, Shalltear, Demiurge, Aura, and Mare spoke in turns or when specifically addressed. Although normally each would have a separate audience, their duties were interlaced with this specific work, so they all needed to be present.

Behind him stood Sebas and Solution. Sebas was fulfilling his role as butler, so he always followed whenever Harry was inside Nazarick’s domains. Solution was a special case in this instance, since Harry had asked her to follow him for the day instead of one of the regular maids. He needed her expertise in stealth for what would come after this meeting ended.

Everything was going on as normal until the temperature in the room seemed to drop, fueled with an overdose of magic. Not too long after, a magical circle appeared at Harry’s feet, a familiar mix of runes crackling with power. He recognized the feeling of a summoning; it was as if his ribs had been securely tied by a rope and he was about to be yanked away.

As expected, the NPCs reacted immediately. Albedo jumped forwards, her thin arms embracing him as she tried to get him out of range of the magical circle at his feet, while Mare used his divine item to try to dispel the magic. The others were using everything they had to try to find the location of the invisible foe, believing they were under attack.

“It’s no use, that’s summoning magic.” Harry said, cursing softly under his breath. As if following his words, the magical circle that was at the other side of the room simply moved to follow him, linked to Harry’s soul as the being that was about to be summoned.

“No no no that can’t-!” Albedo started to chant, carrying him around the room with the magical circle following closely behind them. It would be a funny scene if not for the gravity of the situation, since Nazarick and the country were going to be left without a leader.

“Get out of it, you’ll be pulled with me otherwise!” Harry shouted at the same time he took the contingency manual he had made from the inventory, throwing it towards his desk, the book falling over it with a thud. This was the wrong thing to say however, since several things happened all at once.

The circle caught up with them, easily following the ridiculous speed of Albedo, and the light got brighter as if happy it had gotten its prey. Harry got out of Albedo’s arms, and was ready to push her away, but the other NPCs in the room moved so fast that they seemed to have teleported inside the summoning circle. Harry could practically hear the unsaid ‘ _Then we’ll be your shields!’_ go through their minds as they accepted the summoning with steel determination.

 _Bloody bunch of idiots!_ Harry didn’t get the chance to say so out loud though, since the magic finally activated around them, their surroundings disappearing as they were replaced by sheer pure magic.

It was over in an instant, the magic dispersing to reveal their new surroundings. The room was dark, only illuminated by a few candles and torches, which gave a blueish tilt to the walls made of stone. At his feet was the summoning circle, the runes had been carved in the floor made of wood, and surrounding it were 5 objects made to contain magic. The jars were large enough that filling a single one of them would take at least a year for an average wizard, and that was if they donated half of the magic they had available each day.

The only occupant of the room other than him and the NPCs was at his feet. Knelt in front of him was a single male, looking at them with both, relief and desperation. Harry was glad the young man was on his knees; otherwise the subjects surrounding him would have killed him instantly.

“P-please, I beg you, Master of Death!” he said lowering his head until his front touched the floor with a soft thud. The male probably didn’t know which one to address, so he had decided not to look at anyone in particular, gaze fixed on the ground “Please, finish the remnants of the Death Eaters! Don’t let another war start!” Harry could feel as the magic buzzed in preparation to recognize the request, which would bind him to this world until it was either completed or the requester died.

Death Eaters? Could this be his old world…? Harry didn’t dare hope, but limited himself to raise a hand to stop his subjects from lashing out at the man that was clearly the source of the unwanted summoning. He observed more closely the items in the room, actually recognizing most of them from his first life.

Harry didn't know how old he was anymore, nor did he particularly care. With his status as Master of Death, he wouldn’t really "die" until the day came of the very final apocalypse, when each and every universe have collapsed, and there was no more life out there… only then would he pass on. It had been hard to accept at first, but since the inevitable end of his original world, he had lived in numerous universes, each with their own set of particular rules, and his body and magic always adapted to the changes.

“You may raise your head. Which year is this? Which war are you speaking of?” Harry addresses the man calmly as he steps forward, even if Albedo and Sebas immediately moved to flank each side, ready to act at a moment’s notice. The man does as told, grey eyes focused on him as he answered. If this was really his old world (and it seemed to be) this year would be his fourth in Hogwarts.

“You’ve requested to stop the next war. What exactly does that entail?”

“They think You-Know-Who is dead, but I’m not so stupid” the young man says, frustration laced in his words as he frowned “I know he’s there somewhere, waiting for the right moment to strike back. After what they did to my family, I just can’t…” the phrase remains unfinished, but Harry gets the undertones of a thirst for revenge in the young voice.

Harry nods once at him before asking “In that case, you want me to eliminate each and every wizard loyal to Voldemort, including the man himself, correct?” he didn’t want to mess around with the magical creatures, their support was due to the racist wizarding laws so the magical community was practically asking for it.

The young man doesn’t seem to notice Harry’s careful wording, since he answers positively without an ounce of hesitation before stating “I’m aware everything comes with a price, I’ll give anything and everything you ask from me”

 _Stupid child, you’re a reckless Gryffindor aren’t you?_ Nevertheless, he felt as the magic around the room settled, sealing the request, along his dimension-traveling restriction. Harry wasn’t mad about it though, if this was really his old world, lending a hand was not a problem in the slightest.

“And your name is?”

“Rionach McKinnon” Hmm, the last name sounded like he knew it somewhere, but he couldn’t quite remember right now. It was normal really, considering just how much time it had passed since his first life ended.

“Very well, McKinnon. My condition for accepting your request is for you to leave the country”

 _This way you won’t die, and I’ll be able to stay here to avoid the second war_ was the unvoiced thought as he placed his own request.

“W-what? You’re not going to kill me?” the young man, no older than 19 really, sounded genuinely surprised. Harry sighed mentally as he thought _Please don’t give my subjects any ideas, stupid child_ but surprisingly enough, the NPCs didn’t react at all to his words. How odd.

“Since you wish to save this wizarding community, my price is you don’t return to it. In other words, you won’t be able to enjoy the peace you have wished for” he tried to sound serious as he answered, thinking that would be believable enough for the summoner. In reality, the price to pay was only the huge amount of magic needed to perform the ritual, but since the child had giving him the idea so nicely, he would use it to protect the reckless youth.

“I-I see… that makes sense” McKinnon nodded to himself, trusting Harry’s words completely “You have my gratitude! I will leave this country at the soonest!” he said earnestly before standing up, leaving the room hastily as he showed his unprotected back to them.

 _The moral idiot had to be a Gryffindor, there was no doubt of that now_ Harry thought as he saw the man leave without a care for his own safety.

“Calm down, everything is under control” he said to the servants behind him, turning around to address them. They only gave confusing looks at him though, before Demiurge bent as if apologizing

“Please forgive our ignorance Hadrian-sama, your servants cannot understand your orders” the demon said tensely in Japanese. Ah, that’s right, the world where Nazarick was located had a translation spell on it, so the difference in language hadn’t mattered when speaking, and only had an impact in the written documents.

“Please rise, it was my fault for forgetting the difference between worlds” Harry answered in Japanese, before he started to explain just exactly what had happened and the pros and cons of his title as the Master of Death. He only left out the part where he wasn’t obligated to fulfill the request, since the NPCs would surely kill the summoner otherwise.

Once that was done he summoned his wand to cast **[Homenum revelio]**. Verifying McKinnon had vacated the property, he went outside accompanied by Albedo as his guard, and proceeded to cast protective wards around it, Fidelio included as it would be their hiding base temporarily until they investigated more on the situation.

Unknown to him, the moment he summoned the Elder Wand, the copy that existed in this world disappeared from Albus Dumbledore’s hands.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR NOTE:
> 
> Hi everyone!
> 
> Surprised Dumbledore’s group wasn’t the one to summon Harry? I’ve seen them do it on so many fanfics that I decided I wanted to write a different beginning. The McKinnon family was originally extinguished in the first war, all the members killed off by Voldemort’s group, so the only change I made was that I left a survivor.
> 
> You will find no bashing in this story. It’s not like I have anything against it, but it’s not my point of view so I won’t write it, simple as that.
> 
> This is a plot-bunny that is somewhat linked to my first story “The Master of Death in Nazarick” but you don’t have to read that one to understand this one. If anything, the only link would be the explanation about the manual, and the race Harry choose to be when playing Yggdrasil but I’ll mention that on the next chapter or so.
> 
> Well, hope you liked it, have a nice reading!
> 
> See ya later~


	2. Welcome Home

Chapter 1: Welcome Home

**Author: dEBB987    Beta: Nyx the Author**

The first thing he did once the wards were in place was try to communicate with Pandora's Actor, who had stayed back in Nazarick. The communication took a while to take place, but the device Death had helped him create one century ago fulfilled its purpose without issues. Basically, Pandora was to assume his appearance when dealing with official matters of Harry's country, and was to administrate Nazarick at the same time. Every NPC on outside grounds was to come back as well, they had to be either on Nazarick itself or in the nation that was part of his territory. In case of doubt, Pandora had the contingency manual Harry had created, and could communicate with him in case of emergency.

He felt bad for the overdramatic NPC, considering the only people capable of helping him, Albedo and Demiurge, had accompanied him to this world. It's not like he could send them back to Nazarick even if he wanted to. The only way for the NPCs to go back would be to travel along with him, and he was bound until the request was fulfilled.

Deciding there was no use in delving on something he could not change, he proceeded to reunite the NPCs in the shack's backyard, to test their limits in this world. Their personalities and species seemed to remain the same, something he was glad for. Since he was sure there weren’t any races that were even close to the NPC’s races here, he had feared they would be forced to adapt into other ones that actually existed in this dimension.

They tested a few low-leveled abilities as well, just to make sure their movements and usage of Yggdrasil spells were still unrestricted. He left the testing of the high-level ones pending for another time, once they had a definite, bigger location where to practice. He had placed wards and the Fidelius in this property, with Albedo as the secret-keeper, but since it was only temporary he hadn't gotten around placing the full-term defenses he was used to create whenever he arrived at a new world.

Harry's own species had worried him as well. Back in Nazarick's world, he was a Djinn, something similar to the Genie of the lamp, which were a race heavily specialized in magic. In Yggdrasil, their description was "An invisible shapeshifter that can appear in the form of a human or an animal" and even if his original form looked like humanish smoke, the shapeshifting category allowed him to have a physical body that resembled his own. As such, he looked the way he was used to, white skin, black messy curls, emerald eyes, and a slightly short height. Due to his Djinn status however, physical attacks hadn't been his forte, but as he reached the maximum level of 100 he considered he could at least defend himself long enough to escape if it came down to a close-range physical battle.

The question was, would he still be a Djinn or would he have automatically shifted into a wizard's body? He decided to test this with the use of Djinn magic, and summoned a single, harmless Pixie. At his success, he discovered that his summons still followed his orders for a limited amount of time, so the need to vanish them was still present. The weakest the creature the longest he could control it and vice-versa. Once the time was up the summoned being would still be present, but he would have no control over its actions.

He seemed to be able to use Yggdrasil spells without issues as well, so he considered his testing finished once he could successfully shapeshift into both, human and animal alike the way he had gotten used to. His form would turn into smoke momentarily before turning solid as a living creature. He decided to keep his looks, considering he looked different enough without the glasses and the scar, his face seemed more aristocratic and he wasn't nearly as skinny as his contra-part would be. The greatest difference however was the hair, since his own was much more tamable than the unruly nest he used to have in his first decades alive. It was still somewhat messy, but at least he didn't look like he had gotten out of bed without seeing a single bloody mirror.

Testing finally over, he had retired for the day, spending the night meditating in the room he had chosen as his own, while the NPCs entertained themselves reading the books McKinnon had left in the old shack they were currently using as hiding base. The meditation was more to remember about his first life than it was to strengthen his occlumency shields, since he had gotten used to the mind arts quite a few lives ago. He still had much to review, but it would have to suffice for the time being… since he also needed to investigate about a new, more permanent place to reside in. The date the summoner had given was of August, so the Quidditch World Cup would be around the corner, probably on a week or two. He still had time to plot, but he didn't want to remain here any longer than strictly necessary.

Which place would be safe? He had been thinking about borrowing one of the Black states, but those would probably be under Narcissa or Sirius' so he rejected the idea. After meditating for a long while, he decided to give a try to the Potter manor, if the wards recognized him as of Potter blood, it would lighten the burden of protective wards he would need to place, since he would only have to update them and add a few more to be all set.

Would he still count as a Potter though, if he wasn't even a wizard anymore? He would have to go check it out first. Nodding to himself, he left the room he was using as his own and reunited the NPCs that had accompanied him into this world

"There's a location that may suit our needs, but I need to go and review it first… and exploration quest so to speak" he said to the servants kneeling in front of him. He had crafted them a few pendants that served as translation-runes, but since the material was not optimal he had to re-charge the magic once per day "It's not a dangerous quest, since I have plenty of information about this world, but I want Solution and Shalltear to come with me as my guards regardless" by this point, he knew better than to fight their overprotective nature, going along with them whenever possible.

"But Hadrian-sama, as a shield I'm better qualified to protect-"started to say Albedo, before being interrupted by Harry's raised hand.

"I appreciate your input Albedo, but you don't have access to your armor right now" Access to the inventory was a luxury they didn't have in this world, so they only came with the items they currently had equipped. It was a major change for Albedo and Shalltear specifically, since they weren't used to equip their best weapons all the time. As it was, the only major items present were Mare's divine weapon, the ones Solution hid inside her body, and the few that were inside the bag he always carried around his neck.

The succubus looked disappointed, but didn't insist on the matter. Nodding his approval, he gave instructions to the servants that would stay in the shack to survey some of his memories, so they could get a hang of this new world. The NPCs had been restless in the new situation, were they were in an unknown world without Nazarick's walls to protect them, and had only calmed down slightly after Harry explained this was the world he had been born in.

"These memories are from my first life in general, and they don't focus on a specific situation or year, but it's mostly to get you used to the way magic is handled here and the customs of this community specifically" This was not their first time handling memories, so he gave no further instructions on how to use the pensieve.

He had thought about giving them memories of his first two decades as a mortal, when he had fought Voldemort and had defeated him, but had decided not to since there were more than a few memories that would make them lose control in absolute rage. As such, he decided to focus on neutral memories that didn't handle any injuries to his person, but still allowed them to understand this world better.

Placing the pensieve and the set of memories over an empty table, he asked them to raise before dismissed them, so only Solution and Shalltear remained. Offering his left arm to them, he waited until he felt they had a secure hold on the appendage and took a small step forwards, using side-along apparition.

The moment the world stopped its spinning he couldn't help but look sadly at the huge building in front of him. To say he was disappointed at the state of the manor would be an understatement.

The strength of the wards was dramatically different than what he remembered. He recalled them as strong, almost impenetrable wards that would not go down without giving one hell of a fight, but the shield in front of him was frankly… well, pathetic.

Was it because they haven't been renewed in little more than a decade? It was unlikely, considering how strong he had perceived them to be back at the time, when he had first stepped inside this manor at age 22. No, it was more likely that he considered them weak now because he himself had gotten stronger over the years.

He couldn't help but be pleased at that thought. It would mean that the wards he placed on the shack they were currently using were stronger than the blood-wards that were traditionally used by the old, noble wizarding families. How curious indeed. If that was the case, it wouldn't matter much whether the wards recognized him as Potter or not, so he placed his right hand over the metallic main gate without fear, expecting impatiently the reaction of the wards.

He didn't have to wait long before he felt his hand get warmer, the gates opening in welcome under his light touch. He let out a soft sigh, internally glad he didn't have to force his way in.

"It's safe to use. Please stand on guard while I place the new wards on it" he told to the two ladies that had come with him. Solution was nowhere to be seen, having used her stealth to patrol the nearby area in search of possible enemies, while Shalltear stood calmly at his side, still holding his left arm since the moment they arrived. The vampire let it go reluctantly, turning around to keep a better eye on their surroundings with a soft sigh. Harry chuckled softly at her before kneeling, placing one hand on the magically-cut grass as he started to chant in his mind the routine of protections he knew by heart. The air surrounding him became warm and he could feel his magic giving soft pulses to the ground, the weak colors of the sphere invisible to anyone but him started to get brighter as the wards got stronger around the manor.

He didn't place nearly as many as he had around Nazarick, but it was still slightly taxing on his amount of magic and health, since a few required some living force to work. Once it was over, he stood up and added a Fidelius as a finishing touch, with Shalltear as the secret keeper before signaling Solution to come back. Once she took a hold of his arm they apparated away from the property.

He wasn't in any hurry now that he considered his provisional wards sufficient, so he let the relocation issue rest for the day, focusing on answering questions of the NPCs that had stayed to survey the memories, while Shalltear and Solution dived into the pensieve.

"So there are two Hadrian-samas in this world?" Albedo asked excitedly, wings moving slightly until they generated a soft breeze.

"Not exactly. We have the same soul as a base, but are our own person. Basically, we have similar attitude and manner of thinking, but are different according to our experiences and surroundings. He will never grow up to be me" Albedo and Demiurge seemed to understand, but the twins and Sebas only looked confusedly at him.

"Hm… for example, if I had been born in a world of lava, I would be similar to how I am now, but with a dislike for ice and with a higher resistance to fire, since I'd be adapted to those surroundings specifically. The experiences make the Karma points vary greatly as well, since the ethical code changes constantly, and the knowledge gained will never be the same because the circumstances are always different. Simply put, think of this world as a similar dimension to my original, but different regardless. No matter the changes we make here, my past will remain untouched." he said softly, sighing in relief when he saw them nod in understanding. He remembered how Death had been very clear on the matter, that he couldn't go back in time to prevent himself from obtaining his title as the Master of Death. No matter the dimension or age, the beginning or the end, he would always be the one and only living-being carrying said title.

Once Shalltear and Solution came back from the pensieve he finally began to explain them about the war, the Death Eaters, the Order of Phoenix, the horcruxes, and the general outline of his fourth year in Hogwarts.

By the time he solved all the questions they could think of, it was already the morning of the following day. The items that suppressed the need to sleep or eat were something they used at all times, to avoid inconveniences, so no one in the shack was tired by the lack of rest. Therefore, they started to pack anything useful the place had to offer: Ingredients for potions, books, wizarding cloaks, dishes, and furniture, for the most part. Everything went inside Harry's endless bag, since without access to the inventory the NPCs didn't have any item to contain objects.

Once everything was packed he went outside along with the twins, and took down most of the overpowered wards he had placed, so only a few weak ones remained. Going inside, he opened a **[Gate]** in the middle of the room, letting Solution and Sebas go first before receiving the message that it was safe to go through. He walked through calmly, smiling warmly at the paranoid servants he had gotten used to have around.

When the last NPC exited the portal the **[Gate]** automatically closed. He looked closely at them as they read the message Shalltear had written, with the address of the manor they were unable to see, and chuckled softly at their surprise when the building materialized. Only Demiurge and Albedo were used to the Fidelius charm after all.

Opening the main gate of the manor, he sighed happily at the warm feeling of welcome he felt from the magic surrounding him. Home sweet home.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  AUTHOR NOTE:
> 
> Short chapter I know haha but I'm happy with it regardless. They may be only 2.5K words, but it was fun as heck to write them!
> 
> This was an introductory chapter, so let me know if you had any doubts or think I forgot to clarify something. Especially if you've read my other story, since they're somewhat linked. Did I miss something?
> 
> Anyways, writing two stories at the same time is quite fun, but it means more time invested to writing, so sorry if I don't update as often as I wished I could. I have plenty of ideas so I initiate random drafts but take a while to finish a chapter haha.
> 
> Well, hope you liked it and see ya' soon. Thanks for reading buds!
> 
> Nyx here! Bored while waiting for the next chapter? If you are interested in other Overlord crossovers, check out my stories as well!


	3. Diagon Alley

Chapter 2: Diagon Alley 

**Author: dEBB987    Beta: Nyx the Author**

The manor was, quite obviously, full of dust and small pests. There were doxies in the curtains, spider webs in the ceiling, a few rats running around in the edges of the room, close to the walls, and was that a flesh-eating slug in the furthest corner? To think this was only the entrance of the manor! All in all, it needed a bit of work before it would be clean and comfortable enough to live in.

“Well, it will be faster if we simply kill everything low-level in the area.” Harry mused. “Mare, if you would? Keep the range inside the manor however, I’d like to save the magical plants of the garden.” The twins had grown up in the last two centuries, up to the point that they now looked like 17-years-old. Aura couldn’t be passed off as a boy anymore, since she had a more feminine body now, and Mare… well, he still was fond of female clothing, but now replaced them with male clothes now and then. They both were using male clothing when the summoning happened, wearing the same style but different colors.

Aura wore formal white trousers accompanied with a red t-shirt that had the first couple of buttons undone, with brown dragon-hide boots that allowed for a more efficient running. Mare wore the same but with black trousers, a light blue t-shirt that was done all the way up, and grey, smooth-looking boots.

“U-understood” was the soft spoken answer before the elf raised his staff **“[Lesser Disintegration]”** The different creatures let out pained sounds for a moment before they were completely eradicated, taking care of the pests in seconds.

“Thank you Mare. Now only the cleaning is left.” He hummed thoughtfully for a second before summoning the Elder Wand, tracing a rune mid-air. “Well, it’s not going to be completely clean, but it should get rid of the dust.” The low-level rune he had traced had a similar effect than an overpowered Scourgify charm, but with more lasting effects, so it wouldn’t be necessary to clean often. The surface of the floor, walls and ceiling were slowly traced by a golden line of light, getting rid of the dirt as it passed over it.

Nodding satisfied at the now somewhat habitable mansion, he lets the NPCs explore the building at their leisure. Once he was alone, he went directly to the living room, taking off the bag hanging around his neck and places it on the floor. He opens it before starting to summon everything they had brought from the shack out of the bag, levitating it to their right place with the Elder Wand. The manor wasn’t bare per se, but it was lacking the furniture and decorations that characterized a home currently on use, so he quickly accommodated the objects trying to get the spacious room filled.

This was a methodical process, so he was free to let his thoughts wander on more important matters. Since his arrival, he had been thinking on what to do, coming to the conclusion that he shouldn’t interfere much in the play of events that formed his fourth year. The more he modified, the more unpredictable the future would become, so he decided to stick to the script for the most part, focusing instead on the horcrux hunt.

Thinking about this, he looked down with interest at the Elder Wand he was holding. It had come to him without any problems arising, but he didn’t know if it was his own wand or the one this world had held. Had he accidentally stolen Dumbledore’s wand?

Fortunately, there was a very easy way to determine this. Rising his left arm, he held his empty palm upwards at the same time he called back to him the resurrection stone. The ring falls on his hand softly, malicious magic coming from it in waves before a dark curse latches from the ring and onto his magical core.

 _Ah, I had forgotten the ring was cursed_ he thought calmly as he saw the curse try and fail to get a hold of him. It had entered his system successfully, but the difference in strength was so great that the curse was being held back by his defenses. The magical collision lasts but a couple of seconds before the dark magic disperses; utterly overflown in terms of raw power by Harry’s own magical core.

Had this really been the curse that condemned Dumbledore to an early grave? It was hard to believe, but that seemed to be the case. If anything, this confirmed Harry’s theory that he was the one that had gotten stronger, instead of the magic becoming weaker than what he remembered. If this was this dimension’s ring however, then the wand he currently had was that of the headmaster.

He really hoped his old professor wouldn’t have a panic attack, having lost his more reliable weapon. Having finished the sorting of the furniture and other objects, he hangs his bag around his neck again with automatic motions, not really paying attention since he was lost in his thoughts. He only comes back to reality when he senses someone coming towards him, his eyes moving automatically to the source.

“Hadrian-sama” the sweet voice of Solution reaches him from the entrance that led to the dining room, a serious expression on her face “May I make a request?”

Intrigued, he wonders what could the pleiade ask for so soon in this new dimension before giving her his permission to speak freely. The slime bows down by the waist, pausing for a moment before admitting out loud “While I’m infinitely thankful for the work Hadrian-sama has done, your humble servant asks for forgiveness and requests permission to adapt this building. I’d like to make amendments so this humble residence may be worthier of the presence of a Supreme Being.”

Harry had a brief flashback on how insistent the NPCs had been when he had established his country, constructing a palace needlessly big for him. They had been adding things and details back and forth for what seemed like an eternity before being mildly approving of the new, official building, and only because Harry himself had told them it was good enough.

“Please rise” he says softly, waiting for her to do so before answering her query “Thank you Solution, you know me very well” He smiles at the pleasantly surprised expression of the maid before continuing “I was about to request your help regarding the accommodations. I’ll leave it up to you.” the slime seems relieved, smiling brightly at him for a moment before her form straightens with a determination that only the assignment of a new mission could cause.

“Yes!”

“Then, in the meantime, I’ll go out to the backyard. There’s something I need to do before paying a visit to Diagon alley.” he says at the same time several presences get closer to the room, the NPCs having finished their small exploration of the property. They seemed to feel unsure even in this renewed home however, because upon eavesdropping his words, they insist quite adamantly that he should not go out alone, not even to the backyard.

“I assure you, this property cannot be entered without my permission” he said in a slightly exasperated tone for what seemed like the tenth time, before mentally admitting defeat “Nevertheless, I’ll accept your suggestion this time.”

He takes in the relieved faces of his subjects for a moment before clapping once, to dissipate the anxious atmosphere. Letting a playful smile adorn his face, he continues swiftly in a sweet tone “Well, let’s go kill a basilisk then.”

“A basilisk? Wasn’t Hadrian-sama fond of them?” Aura asks as she tilts her head slightly, probably thinking in the collection of reptiles that he had back in Nazarick.

“The basilisks are different in this world. They don’t have extremities, their venom is the most potent in existence with only one, very uncommon cure, and their stare can kill, instead of simply petrifying. The death of one is, sadly, necessary this time around.” he answers Aura patiently before directing his gaze to the only demons in the room “Demiurge, Albedo. Would you like to make some exercise? While the stare can’t really kill anyone with level 100, it will probably have the same effect than the instant-death magic in our world, which would stun you momentarily.”

His smile turns playful once more, still directed at his two smartest guardians “Would you blind it? Or would you rather fight with your eyes closed? Whichever the case, it should be an interesting practice.”

“Of course, Hadrian-sama~.” the wings of Albedo give a couple of soft swings, her hands clasped together as in prayer.

“We’ll fulfill successfully the expectations placed upon us.” Demiurge answers swiftly with a small, elegant bow, the metallic tail curling around his ankles.

“Ara~ Is this practice only meant for them?” asks Shalltear with slight disappointment, a delicate finger posed on her right cheek. Truth be told, Harry had directed the test at them because their appearance would not let them accompany him outside the manor. Everyone else could pass off as humans somewhat, but the demonic traits they possessed were harder to hide, so he had assigned this to them to make them feel useful, while at the same time letting them relax in a small battle.

“It’s been a while since I could see their teamwork, so this request is only for them. In the meantime though...” he places the tip of the Elder Wand to his temple, taking out a single string of memories that stay accumulated at the tip of his wand “I want the rest of you to be familiar with the outlines of Diagon alley. There’s much to do there, so we may need to run different ways.” Wandlessly summoning the pensieve from his bag, he places the chain of memories in it before giving the item to Sebas, since the dragonoid was the closest to him.

“Go to the dining room and watch them attentively. Send me a message once you’re done with them.” he says to the majority of the servants in the room before directing his gaze to the couple of demons “Albedo, Demiurge, follow me.”

Walking calmly towards the backyard, he places a good distance between their position and the manor before finally stopping in the middle of the clear, magically-cut grassland. Turning half-way to watch the two guardians, he clarifies that the battle starts only once he gives the signal, and waits for them to state their understanding before raising his hand at the empty plain in front of him.

 **[I wish for a Basilisk]** the giant snake that appears in front of him lets out an angry hiss, beginning to speak in parseltongue “ _Who daresss-_ “ before the imperio-like state takes hold of the creature. The huge jaws close abruptly, the tongue sliding outside to taste the air surrounding it before the reptilian head bows down to him, eyes closed as it awaits orders. He had tried to focus on a high level basilisk, since he didn’t want to bore his guardians too much, but in the end the summoned creature was probably among a 50-60 in the level scale. This battle wasn’t going to last.

“ _At my sssignal, the battle beginsss. Give your bessst to defend yourself and sssurvive._ ” he hisses in parseltongue to the basilisk, before summoning a special pair of glasses from his bag that would allow him to hold the killing stare. Placing them on his face, he turns around to address the guardians once more.

“Sadly, it seems this is the best this world has to offer. Are you ready?” Seeing the almost impatient nods, he immediately starts counting out loud “One…two…” The phrase remains unfinished as he disappears with a purposely loud CRACK! appearing over the roof of the manor. His sight is good enough to see in detail as the basilisk immediately opened its yellow eyes, the huge jaws opening threateningly before striking at the demons in front of it.

Neither of them moves to blind the beast, which meant they had chosen to fight with their eyes closed. They jump in opposite directions, evading the attack without issues. The basilisk slides swiftly, the head turning left as it intends to bite Albedo, while at the same time the huge tail tried to get a hit on Demiurge.

Which was, quite obviously, a mistake. Showing its back to the enemy could only go wrong.

 **[Messenger of Peace]** was the spell used by Albedo as she used her hands to forcefully catch the jaws threatening her, venom sliding over her uncovered arms without causing her harm. The spell increased the DEFENSE and decreased the ATTACK in equal amounts, which meant she was intending to be the “Tank” in this battle. The member of the team that would serve as bait for the enemy, while the others dealt damage to it.

At the same time Albedo used her spell, a second voice resounds through the battlefield. Demiurge calmly used **[Aspect of the Devil: Razor Sharp Claw]** with a sadistic smile on his face as the claws became elongated, stretching beyond eighty centimeters. The demon raised his hand and brought it down mercilessly over the hard scales of the reptile, going through the flesh as if it were butter.

There’s a hiss of agony as the Basilisk’s lower half is forcefully immobilized, the claws of the male demon keeping it grounded. The reptilian head gets free from Albedo’s grasp, most likely because she had allowed it, and instinctively turns to address the threat that was inflicting damage. Ignoring Albedo wasn’t the brightest idea though.

Nullifying her previous spell, her sweet voice lets out a battle cry as she takes out the spear Solution had lent her. The originally unarmed guardians had been equipped with the best the Pleiade and Harry had had stored, but in the end it would always pale in comparison to the items they had left behind.

The spear is more than enough for a creature of such levels however, the weapon going cleanly through the snake’s throat, cutting off its head in a swift attack. The huge head falls down with a thud, the battle over in only a few minutes.

“As expected, it was too weak for you to play with” he says with mock sadness when he apparates back to their position, glasses once again kept in his bag. They both straighten up and pronounce their agreement, seemingly disappointed as well.

“Well, it can’t be helped since this world’s magic is weaker than ours, the creatures that populate it are also more fragile” Harry says as he makes a motion with his hand to wandlessly close the basilisk’s eyelids. The stare had lost its killing property, so he did it out of respect more than anything else.

He would ask for Aura’s help to get the skin, venom and important bits of the reptile, before going to Gringotts to exchange them for galleons. He would need some currency after all, and a basilisk of this size should be more than enough to live comfortably for a few years, if one knew how to administer it.

Not that he was planning on staying so long of course. If anything, a year should be more than enough to do what he needed to.

Tearing his gaze away from the dead reptile, he addressed both guardians, choosing to speak with them in the yard since it was still too soon for the others to have come out of the pensieve yet.

“I’m afraid you will have to stay in this property for the time being. I need to obtain the right materials before I can give you illusory runes to hide the demonic traits.”

“I see. Wizards have means to see through invisibility, is that it?” Demiurge says out loud, seeing as Albedo didn’t seem convinced at all. Her beautiful face frowns slightly for a moment, before looking downwards somewhat resigned.

“Indeed. While they are minority, I’d rather not risk it” Harry affirms to the elegant demon before turning his understanding gaze towards the succubus. “In the meantime though, there’s something I’ll need your help with.” The words work like a miracle over the slightly depressed form of Albedo, her head raised in attention to receive her next order.

“Yes!”

“The usage of high-spells and high-skills is something we haven’t tested in this world yet. So long they’re not overly destructive, I’d like you to practice them and make a report if there’s anything different.” he pauses slightly as an idea strikes him, bringing his left hand to his chin pensively before continuing “Actually, if you could test them on a certain creature, I’m sure the result will be interesting one way or another.” The dementors were supposed to be almost immortal, it was not until the whole world had ended that the creatures had been erased along with it. Whether the dark beings perished or not, it would prove to be useful knowledge all the same.

Deeming the area wide enough for practice, he implemented the same wards Azkaban used to keep the Dementors inside a certain region, so the creature would not be able to get out of the Potter’s yard nor near the mansion.

Just as he finished the implementation of the ward, he received a **[Message]** from Sebas, confirming the chain of memories had ended. Telling the demons he would give them further details at a later moment, he dismissed them before calling Aura.

He explained to the elf exactly which parts he would need her to extract from the reptilian corpse, and gave her a few containers to keep them in. Aura performed her task with a familiarity born from experience, getting it done as fast as if 12 ministry wizards were working on it in tandem. The skin was the part that took longer, but even with that, the whole task was completed in only a few minutes.

Placing the containers in a special portion of his endless bag, he patted Aura’s shoulder in thanks before they both went back to the manor, where he proceeded to assign the tasks to each NPC.

Solution was dismissed before the meeting even started, since she seemed impatient to begin changing the lamentable state of the manor, she would stay so she could work at her leisure. Mare was to stay as well, to help Harry search for loopholes in the bank administration.

Harry would rather get Hufflepuff's Cup without messing with the goblins, so he had given a dozen of heavy books regarding the policies of the magical bank to the young elf. He had chosen Mare for this task because he was better at finding loopholes than any other denizen in Nazarick, even beating Demiurge and Albedo most of the time. Back in the other world where Nazarick resided, Mare was in charge of fool-proofing the laws implemented in his kingdom, and thanks to him Harry had avoided more than one possible catastrophe.

Harry also wanted him to stay because the divine item he carried, the staff, would immediately call for attention, and he knew the young elf would feel anxious if it was left behind in the manor.

Sebas was to go to Gringotts, with instructions on just how much Harry expected to receive from the Basilisk parts and permission to negotiate if necessary. He was, under no circumstances, allowed to act with hostility towards the goblins or try any sort of mind manipulation on them. The final price had to be given willingly.

Aura was to go to Knockturn alley, to check if she could find a few rare ingredients Harry needed to perform a fusing ritual. The illusory runes and the translation runes he wanted to place on special pendants required a few magical properties only available from dark ingredients, so he would need those before starting to work on them. Aura would not be able to buy them until Sebas got out of the bank however, so her errand was only meant to verify if the ingredients would be found in a store or if they would have to go hunting for them. If anything, Harry would be satisfied if they got the dark, unusual herbs, since the ingredients coming from creatures could be obtained via **[Summoning]**.

Shalltear was to accompany Harry to different stores as his ‘guard’, if only because the NPCs were adamant he needed one, to get the things he needed to combine to get the material optimal for runes. Not any metal could hold the amount of magic the runes needed to be efficient after all, but it was so tricky he couldn’t confide in Aura for it.

“Are there any doubts regarding your tasks?” when no one answered he nodded at them before taking them out with him. The rests of the basilisk had been vanished, so the yard was clean when he specified to Albedo and Demiurge the zone they would have available to practice.

“The creature won’t be able to leave this area either, so there’s no need to worry about chasing it around. Are you ready?” Receiving the affirmative response, he proceeded to use the summoning spell **[I wish for a Dementor]** , the grass starting to freeze immediately at the sudden presence of the dark creature.

The dementor actually seemed to emit something akin to Yggdrasil’s **[Despair Aura IV]** which was capable of causing insanity when exposed for a long period of time. Such auras didn’t have an effect on the level 100 NPCs however, so no one was affected by the presence of the dark creature.

“Have fun” were his parting words before he placed concealing charms on the whole group, taking them with him in a side-along apparition. He had chosen a dark, normally unoccupied passage that was near Knockturn alley, where he placed strong notice-me-not charms before lifting the invisibility.

In random intervals of time, they left the passage one by one, with Harry and Shalltear being the last to go out. Walking around the calmest parts of the alley, he noticed that the few wizards around them were turning their heads to stare without an ounce of discretion at them.

 He had covered Shalltear’s dress with a transfigured cloak, but even then they probably stared due to her beautiful, exotic appearance. Ignoring the lot of them, he went towards the store “Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment” searching for the right combination of metals he needed.

**Aura**

After walking around for a few moments down the dark alley, she let out a relieved sigh once she finally spotted the Apothecary Hadrian-sama had shown in his memories.

“Hahh, it’s so small I almost missed it~” she says to herself, accommodating the hood covering her head and shoulders before entering the small, dusty store. The establishment is almost empty, with only two men inside. One is seemingly the owner, the old man watching her every move like a hawk as if afraid she would steal anything. The other is a man dressed in all black, with somewhat greasy hair that reached his shoulders and a large nose; he ignores her presence, seemingly busy inspecting the vial in his hand.

Aura chooses to ignore both, focused on the mission Hadrian-sama had assigned to her, she takes out the list of ingredients she was meant to check.

“Hmm~ let’s see… there are a few with Acromantula venom, some vials with Death-cap…” she recites softly the list as she finds the items, making sure there is more than one vial available for each ingredient. How lucky! There seemed to be enough of everything on the list, the last ingredient was-

“Ehh!! Wait wait wait! Don’t tell me that’s the last vial of Bursting mushroom?!” she practically yells to the man in black, who was staring down at her in a way that was probably meant to be intimidating. No way was he going to take the last!

“I beg your pardon?” the man says slowly, as if speaking with someone with low mental capacity, raising an incredulous eyebrow at her. She’s ignores him in favor of turning towards the owner of the store however.

“You have more right? Like, in storage or something?” she asks with pleading eyes, but the old man only shows her a smirk with some missing teeth, those remaining being an ugly yellow.

“That’s the last vial. The next order gets here in three months” is his raspy answer.

“T-that can’t be!” she turns around to face the man in black again, her brows furrowed in determination. She couldn’t let him take the last vial, since it was a magical plant, her Master could not use his summoning magic to collect the samples he needed.

“Well, I’m sorry but you won’t be taking it. Leave it in the shelf and I won’t-“ she halts mid-threat, remembering the instruction to avoid needless fights. The man seemed offended, eyes narrowing as he took out a wand and pointed it straight at her face, the beginning of a curse in the tip of the wood. She would feel threatened if it were a magic caster with higher level, but the man in front of him was probably incapable of harming Solution, much less someone like her.

Sighing dramatically, she takes a hold of his wrist and forces it away from her face, the spell hitting the floor with a small, blasting sound, leaving a burn mark on the wood. On normal circumstances, she would have twisted the wrist until it snapped, or cut the whole hand off, but she wasn’t supposed to use violence.

Releasing the wrist, the man immediately takes a step back, inquisitive eyes studying her smaller form as he quickly fires another curse at her. She moves her torso slightly to evade it, not even taking a step away from her original position.

“Even for a vampire, that was too fast.” Eh? Who was a vampire? Dismissing the confused comment with a hand motion, she sighs dramatically once again.

“Haah~ I get it, I get it, I’ll give you something else in exchange of that silly vial. Here.” she takes out a flask that was much smaller than the one the man was holding, yellowish liquid swaying slightly with the movement as she showed it to the man.

“I’ll give you basilisk venom, how about that?” The eyes of both wizards open wide like plates, but the man in black can’t really say anything since the owner speaks up.

“It surely can’t be!” The greed on the old eyes were obvious as he steps closer, inspecting the vial with critical eye and using diagnostic spells on it. Letting out a surprised gasp, he extends an expecting hand towards the man in black, who surrenders the last vial of magical mushroom without a word, gaze fixated in Aura’s own flask.

“Here, let’s exchange.” the raspy voice says excitedly, but Aura takes a step back when he tries to reach for her vial.

“Nah-ah Hadrian-sama told me I could get everything on the list if I had to use this” giving the paper to the old man, the owner quickly scans the list before nodding his agreement, giving her all the vials he had on the store regarding those ingredients.

“Here, take it, just give-“

“You could get more with that.” the man in black interrupts the deal, curious eyes focused on her. The owner glared daggers at him, but Aura just smiles playfully, nodding to him.

“Yep, but this is all we need. Money is not a problem, so my Lord said it was ok to get just this.” the man in black stares at her for a moment, with an expression she doesn’t quite recognize before nodding at her.

“If that’s the case, I will double the number of vials he’s offering you with those same ingredients” Well, now that was interesting! The owner mumbles something under his breath, but she doesn’t really recognize what “mudblood” meant and the man didn’t seem to have listened.

“Do you have them here? I need to get them today.” She wasn’t going to wait for him to get the ingredients, her Master wished to start the runes as soon as possible.

He nods before calling a weird name “Twinky!” a small creature with pointy ears and big eyes appearing with a loud _Crack!_ in front of him. He asks it to bring the vials, and in less than a minute he’s standing with a box full of them.

“Deal!” She exclaims happily as they exchanged items. The owner seems to get out of his affronted trance when she exclaims this, making a sharp movement with his wrist to bring out his own wand, a curse already on the tip as he made a circular motion while pointing at them.

“How dare-“ the phrase remains unfinished as Aura hits the back of his neck with her right hand, the left balancing the box of vials so steadily that the items didn’t even clink. Ignoring the knocked-out elder, she uses her free hand to take each vial and place them carefully on the bag Hadrian-sama lent to her. She had always liked the way he could take a random object and alter its form effortlessly to create another, the bag she had right now used to be a chandelier! And it had plenty of charms too; she would love to keep it if possible.

“Well, that’s all.” she shakes off her hands in a satisfied manner once she’s finished, before turning her gaze towards the tense form of the man in black. She wishes him farewell dismissively, not really expecting an answer before turning around and going out of the small store. She could feel the stare that was being directed at her back, but didn’t really care since he was no threat to her.

 Shortly after the elf’s departure, Severus Snape left the apothecary, his dark eyes following her movements as she walked calmly towards Diagon Alley, only relaxing the tight grip on his wand once she’s out of sight. Massaging his sore wrist, he started to stride deeper into Knockturn alley, walking on opposite direction of the one the young female had taken.

He didn’t know what exactly her species was, but he hadn’t seen or read anything that looked even remotely similar to her. The closest would be the vampires, and even then the tan skin made it unlikely. He narrowed his eyes as he remembered the moment in which the female had turned towards the shop’s owner, the man collapsing only a second after.

He knew that she had definitely moved, but he had been unable to follow it with his gaze. It had been so fast that to the naked eye it was as if the man had simply dropped for no reason.

The female had given him a genuine, murdering gaze as well, once she realized he had the last sample. He certainly recognized the intent, since he had seen it one too many times among the Death eaters, and was painfully aware that the woman would have killed him without a second thought in that moment. That was the reason he had disregarded everything and attacked her so readily.

He didn’t even see her raise her hand when he tried to curse her. His wrist had simply been free one moment, trapped at the next.

Coming out of his dark thoughts, he considered he had placed a good distance between them, so he turned on his heel and apparated at Hogsmeade. He took long strides towards Hogwarts, taking out the small flask with venom the stranger had given him. Inspecting it once again, the unbelievable fact remained unchanged: that the venom was freshly taken, terribly so.

A light shiver travels down his spine as he fervently wished the venom had been obtained from her original country. The suffix she had used when she claimed to be serving someone had been Asiatic in origin, which probably meant she was from a race only found overseas. He sincerely hoped her Lord “Hadrian” was only in a trip, and would leave the country soon enough, since he would rather not cross paths ever again.

If the servant was that strong, he dreaded to imagine how the Lord would be, since most magical creatures valued strength more than anything in their chosen leaders.

And to give out Basilisk venom for a fraction of the real price, as if it were something she could get easily? The word ‘suspicious’ didn’t even begin to describe it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR NOTE:
> 
> And so the story begins~
> 
> Happy holiday dear readers, this is the last update of the year, with a total amount of 5.5K words in this chapter, yay! See you again in 2018, thanks for reading and hope you liked it!
> 
> Special thanks for those that take some time to leave a review tho, I really like to read them.
> 
> See ya’ around~
> 
> **Nyx: Check out my stories as well for other Overlord Crossovers!


	4. The Locket

Chapter 3 The Locket

**Author: dEBB987    Beta: Nyx the Author**

In the end, Harry couldn’t find the right combination, so he was forced to buy a bunch of raw material to make it himself. He looked around at random items inside the store for a while, stalling mindlessly before he finally felt his right pocket get warm. The moment Sebas received the currency, he had instructions to place it on a special bag that was linked to himself and Aura, so they could buy the necessary items without having to interact with the butler.

Then again, Aura had informed him via **[Message]** that she had used the basilisk venom to acquire the potion ingredients, saying it had been necessary since there weren’t enough to cover her and  another client’s purchases. Glad she had gotten the ingredients without hitches, he had told her to go ahead to the Potter manor, using the portkey she had tied around her wrist. He told the same to Sebas, since he had fulfilled his own mission sooner than expected, so only he and Shalltear remained in the shopping wizarding district.

Buying what he needed for a total amount of 6 galleons, he feels slightly bothered that the man attending them only focused on Shalltear, even when he was the one purchasing the objects. It could not be helped though, since the vampire was unusually pretty and the attendee was a young male. The guy probably thought the female guardian was a year younger than him, due to her looks, and had been trying to ask her out instead of taking the galleons from Harry’s hand.

Getting bored, he places the payment on the counter and motions for Shalltear to follow him, before she could attempt to kill the foolish employee that had dared to be rude to her Master. He places mild notice-me-not charms on them both before leaving the store, walking on Diagon Alley once more. He and the vampire visit a few more stores, purchasing Floo Powder, two-way mirrors, parchment and quills, a magical trunk with several layers of compartments and lockets, high-quality caldrons, among other things. Shalltear still drags more attention than he would have liked, but nothing could be done about it.

At last, he pays a visit to Borgins and Burkes, purchasing the vanishing cabinet before shrinking it and placing it in his breast pocket. While he hoped to be able to convince Dumbledore he was not an enemy, he was not dumb enough to not prepare a backup plan. This way, if something went wrong he would still have access to Hogwarts grounds once the cabinet was fixed. He truly hoped it would not be necessary however.

Deeming that was all he needed for the moment, he extends an arm to Shalltear before using side-along apparition. Arriving to the manor’s backyard in an instant, he blinked in surprise at the scenery that greets him. In the middle of the zone he had guarded for the dementor, there was an odd-looking pile of darkness that adorned the ground, looking akin to petroleum. He figured those were the remnants of the dark creature. Demiurge and Albedo seemed to be in the middle of testing the high tier skills and spells, pointing at nowhere in particular as they activated them.

 “Oh! Welcome back, Hadrian-sama! Shalltear.” Albedo is the first to greet them, with a bow and a smile towards him and a nod to the vampire. The male demon follows her example a moment after, as they both straightened from their attack pose, and explosion that fills their surroundings with dirt and smoke happening behind their backs.

“Thank you. How have your tests been so far? I assume the dementor didn’t last long either?”

“I’m afraid not.” Demiurge is the one that answers his query, looking at the defeated black stain for a second before focusing on him again “While the creature was able to resist up to 6th tier spells, it was defeated the moment we began to cast high-level ones.”

“Is that so? How interesting, it seems I’ll be the first wizard to try out dementor’s remains in his potions. Thank you both.” he says as he points his wand towards the dark mess, lifting it up and placing it on empty vials. He ignores the immediate response of “Your gratefulness is wasted on us!” and smiles at them warmly before asking them to report their findings.

While their skills and high-tiered spells seemed to work fine, as could be testified by the craters and overall destruction that adorned the backyard, the same could not be said regarding the summoning ability of Demiurge. Trying to use the skill that would allow him to summon mid-tier demons **[Contract with the Abyss]** did not provide any results, as if the ability was blocked by something in this world. The same result happened when trying to summon low-tier and high-tier demons.

Thinking it was probably due to the fact that demons didn’t exist in his original world, he asked Shalltear to try to summon her familiars. The vampiric wolves, bats, and rats, all of them seemed to be out of option, as the activation of her skill **[Summon Household]** didn’t even manage to change the magic in the immediate surroundings.

“How can it be?!” was the irritated cry of the vampire, insisting vehemently on summoning the creatures, her expression becoming more frustrated with each failed attempt. Harry places a hand on her shoulder when she didn’t stop, stating that was enough.

“It seems summoning magic won’t work in this world, since such species do not exist here. Please make sure to remember this restriction when fighting.” he explains calmly to the three of them, waiting for them to express their understanding before guiding them towards the manor.

 He doesn’t reach the door’s handle before it opens from the inside, Sebas receiving him in welcome with an elegant bow. Nodding at the butler, he lets his eyes wander around the manor in a satisfied manner, appreciative of the hard work Solution had invested on improving the state of the mansion.

“Where is Solution?”

“She is working diligently on the second floor, Hadrian-sama” deeming it would be better if left to work, he nodded at Sebas before asking for Mare, starting to walk towards the living room when the butler answered.

He stops right before entering the room however, seeing just how much effort Mare had invested on his mission. The male elf was sitting cross-legged in the middle of a magical circle, the dozen heavy domes were scattered around him in a symmetrical manner. One book was closed, ten were open in the very first page, while a single one had its pages turning so fast it seemed like a very strong air current was going through it. Mare had his eyes closed, but there was movement behind the closed eyelids in a manner similar to the REM cycle, with rapid and seemingly random side-to-side motions behind the closed eyes. The young brow was frowning in concentration as he focused on the data-gathering from the books, since this kind of magic allowed the user to read books at an extremely rapid pace. Even with its use however, the content of the books was too long for them to be finished in a short period of time.

He had told him to take his time, but it seemed to have fallen on deaf ears as the young guardian tried to fulfill his task as soon as possible. He decided to respect his determination, so he didn’t interrupt the ritual and chose instead to go towards the potion’s room.

The ingredients, cauldrons and potion-tools had been neatly cleaned and organized; the only vials out of place were the ones Aura had purchased, resting unassumingly on the cutting table. Taking out the metals he had purchased, he spent the next few days working on the amulets’ creation, only taking a few breaks now and then at the insistence of Sebas.

Letting out a satisfied sigh at their completion, he finally leaves his self-imposed enclosure, calling up for a reunion in the now free-of-use living room. His careful nature forces him to inspect critically the results of the runes’ work, so he makes them form a line in front of him before he takes the currently ineffective translation pendants and gives the new ones to each Nazarick member.

Sebas, Solution, Shalltear and Aura only receive translation runes, which he tests by speaking in several different languages, parseltongue, mermish and gobbledegook, before deeming they worked correctly. The symbols were carved in metallic bracelets that were enchanted to be unnoticeable and anti-thievery.

Then, when Mare’s turn came, the elf is surprised to receive a second bracelet with illusory runes, taking it insecurely from his outstretched hand.

“Hadrian-sama, w-what…?” the question remains unfinished as the young elf steals glances at Aura, clearly wondering why he was receiving one when his sister had not gotten any.

“This one is not for you, but for Shadow of Yggdrasil.” he said, pointing at the divine item Mare held with both hands nervously “A wizard carrying a staff is bound to attract attention, so this is simply to alter their perception of it.”

“I u-understand! T-thank you, Hadrian-sama, I-I apologize for our lack of skills, we have bothered you with this…” the elf says with a low bow, in a manner similar to the way the others had spoken when receiving their runes. Telling him not to worry about it, the elf straightens up and nods gratefully before placing the bracelet on the lowest part of the staff, the automatic adhesion on the metallic band making it stick to it without issues.

All amulets were protected so they would not fall off accidentally, so he simply finished his test by de-activating the ability that allowed him to see through illusions. Blinking a couple of times to adjust at the change, he sees an unassuming black umbrella on the elf’s hands. Asking Mare to hand over the item, the staff doesn’t feel like and umbrella would, but it doesn’t resemble the staff’s wooden surface either; if he had to describe it, he would say it was like grasping a smooth solid object, even if one could not guess what it was parting only by the sense of touch. Nodding approvingly, he returns the item before dismissing the guardian, as Albedo’s turn arrived.

Giving her both wrist-bracelets, he waits for her to put them on before doing his test. Albedo’s demonic features are nowhere to be seen, so he asks her to extend her wings before raising his hand to the position he imagined them to be. The tip of his fingers graze something alright, but it doesn’t feel feathery as it would normally do, the wings lacking any real feeling other than expressing their presence as something solid. Instructing her to keep her wings as close to her hips as possible when going out, he raises his arm to search for her horns, ignoring the light blush that adorned her cheeks. The same feeling intercepts his fingers as he tried to reach for her smooth, black hair, being blocked by something solid he couldn’t really perceive. Nodding in satisfaction at the test, he smiles at the grateful words every guardian had muttered upon receiving their runes, hers being not different before dismissing the succubus to give out the last pair of amulets.

With Demiurge, he only checks the tail and eyes, asking him to remove briefly the glasses and open them so he could be sure. The diamond-like appearance is gone, replaced with sapphire-blue iris, so he nods approvingly and lets him go with an instruction to keep his tail around his waist when going outside.

Activating his passive skill once more, the illusory runes stop working on him as he finally crosses off one of the pending activities in his mental to-do list, the changed item and features of the guardians around him going back to normal once more.

“Since that has been handled, let us focus on the horcrux hunt for the moment, shall we?” Truth be told, the Quidditch World Cup would be starting tomorrow, but he decided to let things run their course regarding the sport event. He would rather not drag Voldemort’s attention quite yet.

“These are the objects we will be searching for.” using Djinn illusory magic, he creates a hologram-like image of the horcruxes to show to the attentive guardians. “The ring, I already have on my possession. The diary has been destroyed. The cup is in Gringotts inside the Lestrange Vault, please report your findings Mare.” Having focused on the creation of the amulets, he had not had a chance of receiving any reports regarding that mission.

“Y-yes! There is a c-clause regarding objects that have the ability of k-killing goblins by itself. To protect their own, the bank d-doesn’t accept to hold any of those.”

“I see. Thank you for your hard work Mare, are you confident in your knowledge to hold your argument against the account manager, even if only in writing?” Seeing the normally shy and nervous male elf nod with determination, he smiled at him before asking what would happen to the retrieved item.

“O-on normal circumstances, it would be g-given to the owners, but t-they’re currently in jail, so it would go to someone r-related to them.”

“Someone related to the Lestranges… that would be the Black family. Would a house elf suffice to retrieve the cup?”

“Y-yes, house elves are allowed to make t-transactions with the bank representing their masters, so long their magic is linked to the family.”

“In that case, it would be better to recover Slytherin’s locket first.” he could kill two birds with one stone if he made Kreacher an ally now, since he was still the official house elf of the Black family, it meant he could say it was sent by a member of the house and receive the item in their name. Deciding on that course of action, he proceeded to assign activities to the NPCs.

“Demiurge, Aura, you both are to search for a way to control the creatures known as Dementors. I will summon a few for you, let me know if **[Domination Mantra]** or Aura’s tamer skills are enough to attain this.”

“Yes, Hadrian-sama!”

“Your servant understands.”

“Albedo, supervise their experiment. If the results are positive work with Demiurge to plan an attack on the prisoners of Azkaban, the only requirement is that it has to be seen as if the Ministry has lost control of the creatures, not an organized attack against Death Eaters.”

“Understood, Hadrian-sama.”

“Solution, please go to the shopping district and purchase food. While none of us need any substance, I’m planning on keeping a few creatures that will” Taking out a small bag with money, he levitated it towards the maid. There was a wizarding village just down the hill where the manor was located, so he trusted her not to get lost.

“Is there any specific food I should obtain?”

“It doesn’t matter so long it’s a vegetarian diet. Do not forget to use wizarding clothing when going out, no fights allowed.” Once the slime expressed her understanding, he turned towards the three remaining guardians.

“Sebas and Shalltear will accompany me to retrieve the locket. Mare, please retrieve ingredients from the magical plants in the backyard, and fix the remnants of destruction the last testing caused once you’re finished. If you have time, start redacting the letter that will be sent to the account manager” Seeing the addressed servants nod in understanding, he dissolved the illusory magic that represented the horcruxes.

Satisfied with the distribution of activities, he went outside to **[Summon]** a few Dementors for the guardians to test with, before bringing Sebas and Shalltear with him in side-along apparition.

While Grimmauld Place was hidden and protected with pretty much every security measure known to wizardkind, he could walk through it all without issues. Striding calmly towards the building muggles didn’t even know existed, he forced the lock of the main door, which emitted many loud, metallic clicks and what sounded like the clatter of a chain before it creaked open.

Harry stepped over the threshold into the almost total darkness of the hall. He could smell damp, dust, and a sweet, rotting smell; the place had the feeling of a crypt. Lighting the candles with a flick of his wand, he walked silently towards the kitchen, where he remembered Kreacher’s little nest to be.

“Hadrian-sama, is it really necessary for your high person to-“ Sebas phrase is interrupted by the portrait’s shouts, Walburga waken up due to the butler’s voice. Ah, he had forgotten to ask them to be silent.

“Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers-“ Harry silences her with a wand movement, stopping Shalltear and Sebas from destroying the portrait with a simple “Don’t.”  since he knew the house elf would not react well to that.

“We’re the intruders this time around, she has reason to be upset. Weren’t we angry as well when Nazarick was invaded?” seeing the reluctant but understanding gazes on both NPCs he continued with “Don’t pay her any mind… actually, ignore the ramblings of the creature I’m about to call as well” that being said, he continued to stride towards the kitchen, where he decided was far away enough from Walburga’s prying eyes.

“Kreacher!”

Instead of appearing however, the utensils and every other object inside the kitchen started to float as if held by invisible threads, before lunging towards him and the guardians that flanked his sides. He vanished the lot of improvised weaponry with a wand movement, before speaking in a loud, clear voice.

“I was Regulus’ friend.”

The words seem to freeze the magic surrounding them, since the house-elf had been about to attack. “I have come to fulfill his last wish. To destroy the locket he entrusted you with, Voldemort’s locket.”

There was a loud crack and the house-elf appeared out of nowhere in front of him: tiny, half human-sized, with white hair sprouting copiously from his batlike ears. He was wearing the filthy rag that mocked real clothing, dirty and with more holes than he cared to count. The creature sends him a contemptuous look, looking distrustfully at Harry and the guardians behind him.

“Kreacher doesn’t understand, who is this stranger?” croaked Kreacher in his bullfrog’s voice, mumbling to himself as he trembled in obvious unease “intruding in my Mistress’s old house with filthy Mudblood behind him—”

“Do not insult my servants. Listen well Kreacher, for I know you cannot fulfill your mission on your own.” he interrupted, making a motion to stop the murdering intent coming from behind him before the rightfully furious guardians killed the elf with nothing but their stare alone. “I’ll destroy the locket in front of you, so you can see I do not lie. Would that be acceptable, Kreacher?” he spoke as softly as he could towards the frightened and distrustful house elf.

At his words, Kreacher started to gulp for air, the small chest rising and falling rapidly as his eyes moved around the kitchen, seemingly seeing something only he could perceive “The locket, Master Regulus’s locket, Kreacher did wrong, Kreacher failed in his orders!”

Reacting instinctively, Harry caught Kreacher as he lunged towards the nearest wall, trying to punish himself for his failure. “Kreacher, stay still!” he shouted louder than the house elf’s cries “For Master Regulus, stay still!”

He felt the elf freeze, tears gushing from the sagging eyes and falling over his sleeve, but he didn’t pay any attention to the stain. Letting go of the creature with slow, controlled movements, he stayed crouched for a moment before determining the house elf would not move again to hurt himself.

The moment he straightened the house elf sat up, curled into a ball, placed his wet face between his knees, and began to rock backward and forward. When he spoke, his voice was muffled but quite distinct in the silent, echoing kitchen.

“The house-elf’s highest law is his Master’s bidding.” intoned Kreacher, which seemed enough to halt the hostile intent coming from the guardians standing still on the kitchen’s entrance. It was to be expected, how they could easily understand the loyalty house elves were used to bestow on their masters. “Kreacher was told to destroy the locket, but nothing Kreacher did made any mark upon it. Kreacher tried everything, everything he knew, but nothing, nothing would work… So many powerful spells upon the casing, Kreacher was sure the way to destroy it was to get inside it, but it would not open… Kreacher punished himself, he tried again, he punished himself, he tried again. Kreacher failed to obey orders, Kreacher could not destroy the locket!” with that last phrase, Kreacher began to sob so hard that there were no more coherent words.

Well, that was the reason a Master didn’t give orders carelessly. A lighter version of the scene in front of him would most likely happen if he were to assign a mission to someone that didn’t have the capacity to fulfill it. A much lighter version, he hoped.  He always thought twice, thrice and yet again before requesting something from the NPCs for this very reason.

The house elf lay on the floor, panting and shivering, green mucus glistening around his snout, his eyes swollen and bloodshot and swimming in tears. It made for a truly pitiful sight. He felt slight annoyance towards Regulus, wondering if he really lacked any trustworthy person in his life he could leave the horcrux with, before remembering that had been most likely the case for the youngest Black.

“Kreacher,” said Harry after a while, “once you have calmed down, please sit up.” Several minutes passed before Kreacher hiccuped himself into silence. Then, he pushed himself into a sitting position again, rubbing his knuckles into his eyes like a small child. “Kreacher, I am here to fulfill Master Regulus’ wish. Bring the locket to me and I’ll destroy it right here in front of you. I’ll ensure that he didn’t die in vain.”

Kreacher dropped his fists and looked up at Harry, seemingly having forgotten about the other two people in the room. After a last moment of hesitation, he nodded and got to his feet, hiccupping one last time before disappearing with a _Crack!_

“Hadrian-sama, I'm afraid to ask, but I have a doubt. Why was such a low creature allowed to misuse your precious time? Wouldn’t **[Charm species]** have sufficed to reach this effect?”

 **[Charm species]** was a 4th tier spell that caused the target to see the launcher as a reliable friend or colleague. However, since one did not tell their friends to kill themselves or hurt themselves, the targets would not obey orders that would result in such things. In addition, the term "friend" was also a kind of bottleneck; there were secrets that people would keep hidden even from their friends, so this magic would be ineffective in extracting such information. If that was the case, one would need to use more powerful mind control spells.

“That would have been inefficient in the long term. My intent is to form a true alliance with him, since he may be able to support us on another matter.” He raised a hand to stop any other questions, since he could feel Kreacher’s presence magic around the room, about to come back. Soon enough, the creature returned with the locket in hand, holding it by the chain as far away from his small body as physically possible. The house elf seemed almost frightened of the dark magic that oozed from the closed object.

Instructing Kreacher to leave the locket on the floor, Harry motions for the house elf to get further away from the object before raising his hand towards it. Hissing “ _Open_.” in parseltongue, he watches attentively as the golden doors of the locket swing open with a little click.

Behind both of the glass windows of the opened locket, blinked within a living eye, but Harry didn’t let it do anything before activating **[Hell Flame]** on it. A very small flame comes out of his outstretched hand, floating for a short moment before latching onto the locket, engulfing it instantly in an inferno of black flames. A long, drawn-out scream fills the room for a moment, before it falls silent once more.

Accioing the locket, he raises it to eye-level just to make sure the horcrux has been destroyed completely, before giving the melted, unrecognizable piece of gold to the house elf that had slowly approached him with insecure steps.

“Kreacher, I would like you to keep this.” he said, pressing the object into the elf’s hand “It is only appropriate, I’m sure Regulus would have wanted you to have it as a token of gratitude for what you—”

He didn’t get to finish that phrase, since the house elf took one look at the locket, let out a howl of shock, and threw himself back onto the ground. Sighing resignedly, he waited patiently for Kreacher to calm down again, speaking softly to the creature for a while before his words finally seemed to reach him.

Once the house elf is finally able to totter a few steps, he brings back the objects of the kitchen that had been previously vanished, before taking a sit and stating he would like to request aid with something. Sebas stands behind him, as befitted a butler, while Shalltear stood in the entrance of the kitchen and watched the house elf with contempt.

“Other items exist, ones that hold the same purpose as the locket Master Regulus wished to destroy.” the house elf turns his gaze towards the melted locket grasped strongly in his hands, before looking up at Harry again “If possible, I’d like you to help me retrieve one of them— Ah, no, this won’t harm you in any way, Master Regulus would not like that, would he?” he adds at the frightened expression Kreacher makes, probably recalling just what kind of “service” the Dark Lord had needed him for.

“N-no, Good Master Regulus would not…” Nodding encouragingly at the soft spoken words, he waits for a moment before proceeding with a calm voice.   

“As it is, I only need you to pick something from Gringotts.” seeing the slightly distrustful look directed at him, he adds “I have no interest in the treasures of the Black Family, those are for you to watch and care for. No, I only want a single cup that has no ties to this family, but is currently held in the wizarding vault. I will carry Master Regulus’ wish, and will destroy all the objects that are embedded with that same dark magic. If the object you pick up is different, then you’re free to keep it since I would not need to destroy it in that case. What do you say Kreacher? Would you help me?”

The house elf stays still for a moment, before performing a low bow “Kreacher will help, if it doesn’t affect the Black family, he will. Who is the Good Lord that has helped Kreacher? Good Master Regulus’ friend that speaks the noble language of the snakes?”

“I am Lord Hadrian Peverell, thank you for your help Kreacher.” looking a little lost, but happy at the nice treatment, the house elf straightened and brought the melted horcrux to his chest, thanking him for the first time for his help.

Nodding at the thankful creature, he stood up and motioned for Shalltear to come close, extending an arm towards her and Sebas before addressing the house elf one last time

“I’ll send you a Patronus once everything is in order with Gringotts then. See you soon, Kreacher.”

And with that, he apparated away with an intentionally loud _Crack!_ , leaving behind a house elf that smiled for the first time in the last 15 years.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR NOTE:
> 
> Before anything else, I have to say that Hero600’s review made me laugh. So thanks bud, it really lifted my spirits hahaha! Just kidding of course, while I have plenty of drafts and incomplete chapters, I publish the finished work within the week, after I’ve re-read it at least a couple of times searching for mistakes. Ah, the disadvantages of not having a beta~ EDIT** Now I do have a Beta reader! *Excited school girl squealing* he is helping me so much in correcting grammar~
> 
> A couple of reviews also pointed out two valid questions regarding this storyline. One, why did the summoning ritual work if the magic in Harry’s world is weaker? Shouldn’t Harry have immunity towards it? The thing is, in my story-arc at least, the summoning ritual for the Master of Death is the same for all worlds and dimensions, so it shouldn’t be considered as magic from his original world specifically. That, and Harry, as the carrier of said title, cannot avoid the summons, no matter how powerful his current position may be. For as long as he is the MOD then he can be summoned.
> 
> The second is regarding why the guardians are not surprised about Harry’s first life. This is linked to my first story, so sorry for not having it clarified sooner. Basically, the Guardians know he has lived in multiple worlds, even if, at first, they had the wrong idea that he had conquered all of them. Later in the story though, Harry tells them more about his first life, more specifically, on how he started to learn about magic in general (that’s the plan I have for it at least). So for effects of this story, they are aware that their Master didn’t start out as powerful as they know him, even if they never realized just how weak he used to be until they get to meet the young Harry that is still studying in Hogwarts.
> 
> The AN is long as it is so I’ll leave it at that. Thanks for reading and hope you liked it, see ya’ around!


	5. Dementor Revolt

Chapter 4 Dementor Revolt

**Author: dEBB987    Beta: Nyx the Author**

“By Merlin’s beard, what the fuck is going on?!” the supervisor of the night shift in Azkaban barked at the wizards under his command, who had entered running as if chased by a dragon while levitating a few of their unconscious comrades above them.

“The dementors! They’ve gone mad, attacking anything in their vicinity—“said the first one to enter, a crazed look on his eyes that gave away the fact that the dark creatures had fed on him. The wizards behind him were not faring much better either.

“Idiots! Why didn’t you send a patronus towards them? Why not send one _to me_ so I could request support?!” He shouted at them, wand on the ready as he helped the wizards enter faster into the main tower, where the wards against dementors would not let the dark creatures approach.

“T-that’s the thing, our patronus dissipate immediately, they don’t even take form—“

“Of course they would not take form with how fucking scared you bunch are!” Idiotic rookies, the lot of them! He can’t lose more time with questioning, he needed backup and fast, or the rest of the guards that still were on the other vigilance towers would be endangered by the dementor’s revolt.

“Expecto Patronum!” a panther comes out from the end of his wand, sending a message to Amelia Bones, requesting aid from the Aurors that knew how to repel dementors.

At least, that’s what should have happened.

But instead of going out to fulfill its purpose, the panther dissipated the moment it went out of the tower.

“W-What? What the—!” he stuttered.

“T-that’s exactly what happened to us! The Patronus can’t leave the towers, and the wards keeping the dementors out d-didn’t hold that long, they were too many… too many…“

That explained why they had risked themselves to reach the main tower. It was the only one that had an exit from the hell on earth known as Azkaban: a fireplace. The floo access was restricted, so it could only go to the Auror's department and St. Mungo. If a wizard tried to use it to reach another destination that fool would find himself stuck in the fireplace, unable to get out until the alarm brought the Aurors to "help".

Going towards it, he used Floo Powder to request aid from the Aurors, even if he lost quite some time with the rookie that had received his call, having to wait for the Head of the Auror’s Department to arrive. Once Amelia Bones arrived however, he summarized the situation at hand as much as he could before ending the call to send the affected guards towards St. Mungo, time was of essence when dealing with a dementor’s attack, if they were to avoid permanent repercussions.

Once that was done he was the only one that remained behind, shivering slightly in the cold room—

Cold room?

…Oh no.

Cursing loudly, he saw as a full horde of dementors approached the tower, seemingly immune to the wards that were supposed to keep them away from the vigilance buildings. Their thin, skeletal hands reach out towards him, as they came closer and closer to the door and windows.  He shivered, knowing fully well that everything was lost, that there was nothing else he could do…

His panther’s light got dimmer, which got him out of the depressive thoughts the dementor’s presence was having on him. He could do it. For his small daughter Katty that would turn six next month, for the newborn that his wife had had only two weeks ago. Thinking on the round, red face of his youngest child, on the moment he had first carried the small baby on his arms, the panther got infinitely brighter, which seemed enough to keep the horde of dark creatures at bay. His lone patronus was not enough to repel them completely, but they were at least keeping their distance now.

The sound of something burning reaches his ears, a flash of green coming from behind him, which makes him release a relieved short laugh. The backup had arrived. A little more than a dozen wizards come out of the fireplace, keeping all of their patronus inside the room before sending one out testily.

The moment the bright Falcon goes through the walls of the tower, it dissipates in thin air, as if absorbed by the creatures it was fighting against.

“What the hell! Why are the Patronus not working?!” a guard snarled.

“How the fuck am I supposed to know?!” another squeaked out in fear.

“Shut up and keep calm! Don’t let your thoughts wander or your patronus will get weaker!” the Auror’s leader, Kingsley Shacklebolt, shouted. “Madam Bones is already moving to contact Dumbledore, they should arrive shortly.”

The mention of Hogwarts’ Headmaster seems to brighten the mood, the morale rising as they focused on the happy memories that kept their spell working. Time, they only need to gain more time.

The dementors stayed stubbornly still just outside the tower’s walls, flying from side to side as if waiting for their prey to tire out. This was an odd behavior; they had never been so organized in an attack, normally content with feeding on the allowed prisoners. Why stay here to wait for unreachable food when there was so many unprotected in Azkaban? What had triggered this assault that seemed to be aimed specifically to the guards?

They try not to dwell on this spiral of intriguing thoughts, since they need to concentrate on happy memories. Only a short time had passed, but it had felt as an eternity before the green flames flared up again, two figures coming out of the fireplace.

Amelia Bones and Albus Dumbledore had finally arrived.

The usually blue twinkling eyes of the headmaster are dim as he steps gravely into the room, casting a silent patronus towards the outside of the tower. The phoenix lasts a couple of seconds longer than the others, but in the end it dissipates without much resistance.

“Why is this happening, Dumbledore?” Shacklebolt asks anxiously, not breaking his gaze from the spot where the bright phoenix had disappeared

“…This is not caused by the dementors. Wizarding magic was involved in this.” Dumbledore mutters softly, as if to himself, before turning towards the night shift supervisor “Dawlish, How many guards are still outside?”

“Three more, but I’m unaware of their current location. They are not supposed to leave the vigilance towers, so I’d guess they are still there” … _If they were still alive that is_ , was not the voiced answer, but everyone understood it from the tone John Dawlish had used in his response.

“Do forgive me for bending the law this time Amelia” the headmaster said with a quick glance at her before calling out for his familiar “Fawkes!”

A magnificent bird appears in a show of flames, flying directly towards the headmaster as it raised its claws, in a manner a hunting bird would.

“Don’t you dare go out alone— “ Amelia started to say in response. Every wizard, except for the Aurors and Guards, were banned from stepping unaccompanied into Azkaban, which was a law that was usually very well respected. Who was crazy enough to go into that hell willingly alone?

The answer seemed to be Albus Dumbledore.

“I’ll visit the other towers, this is the least we can do.” and with that, he disappeared from the room in a curtain of fire, the phoenix having dived down to reach his outstretched, elderly hand.

The Aurors remaining couldn’t do anything but keep their Patronus strong inside the main tower, ignoring the curses Amelia had directed at Dumbledore when the latter disappeared. Five minutes passed, then ten, and just when everyone was starting to feel trepidation at the prolonged absence of the headmaster, the sound of fire reaches their ears once more, a few figures appearing in the middle of the room.

Only two guards accompanied Dumbledore’s return, which were promptly taken to St. Mungos by one of the less experienced Aurors. Dawlish, Azkaban’s supervisor, sighed sadly as he identified the missing person.

Yaxley had been one of the best guards… he had been about to be promoted actually.

“What the bloody hell are they doing now?” Madam Bones whispered apprehensively, staring with unblinking eyes at the scene happening outside the tower. Up until now, the dementors had been flanking the door and windows, the big group conformed of at least 100 of them moving restlessly.

Now though, their movement had halted in unison, completely synchronized as if they were a single creature with a single mindset. It was as if the time itself had frozen, for not even their capes were swaying as they were prone to. For an infinitely long moment, nobody moved, before the whole horde of dark creatures started to fly upwards at the same time, moving towards the sky and away from the main tower as they went through the layers of wards that were supposed to keep them near Azkaban. It was as if the protective wards didn’t exist, the dark creatures passing through without any difficulty as they disappeared far into the starless night.

The silence is oppressive in the tense room, until Dumbledore’s wand releases a bright phoenix once again, which actually manages to keep existing even when outside the tower.

This seems to take Amelia out of her stupor, since she immediately barks an order to the Head Auror of the specific group. “Shacklebolt! Work with Dawlish to make an accounting of the prisoners. Dead or alive, I want to know what happened to each and every single one of them, this may have been a distraction to cover an escape”

“Understood Ma’am.” With a motion of the head, the Auror signals for the supervisor to follow him, both men going out of the building slowly and warily, their patronus floating around them.

“Keep an eye on them Fawkes, bring them here if the situation turns dire” Dumbledore says softly to his familiar, which lets out a beautiful note before flying out of the room.

“What is the meaning of this Professor Dumbledore?” was the whispered question of one of the youngest Aurors, a hufflepuff student that had graduated a couple of years ago and was just now ending the rookie-stage of the training. The query was soft spoken, but it still resounded in the room that had fallen silent in fear and shock.

“It is still unclear… if I were to make a hypothesis though; I’d say the dementors have formed an alliance with a wizard, one powerful enough to sway them to his side with a promise of not only food, but protection” was his grave answer, brows furrowed in worry as he stared unblinking outside the window.

Just as this last phrase is uttered, Harry sneezed from his place inside Potter Manor. Ah, he had forgotten how bothersome the fumes of the cauldron could be. He frowned in annoyance for a moment before mentally shrugging, deciding to simply stop breathing for the time being.

This was the fifth batch of Potion he was experimenting with, trying to use the Dementor’s remains properly. Harry hadn’t known if there was a way to remove a Horcrux without destroying the container, so he had asked Death about it. The immortal being had smirked, before asking as if speaking with an especially slow child “Oh, if only you knew about a creature capable of forcefully taking out the soul without damaging the body…” while glancing between him and the vials he had filled with the dark, petroleum-like substance.

He had snorted at that, rolling his emerald eyes at the impatient entity before saying “Thank Merlin for small mercies, I’d rather not kill a younger version of myself. What’s got you in a bad mood though?”

“Another apocalypse, as if I didn’t have enough work already!” was the exaggeratedly tired-sounding response, as if the being was about to collapse from exhaustion.

“Well, at least it has great job security.” Harry’s light joke is rewarded with the end of a dark scythe, which he evades easily with automatic motions.  Chuckling at the mockingly fed up entity, he thanks Death sincerely before dismissing it, since it had so much “work to do”.

And so, in the last few days he had been trying to find the right combination of ingredients that would create the potion he required. He needed it to separate the soul from the living container, as it was the kind of magic used by the dark creature, but was struggling with balancing out the toxic properties of the main ingredient.

“W-would an eye of Newt work to even out the a-acidity left by the Moonseed?” he is taken out of his musings by Mare’s question, who was seated over a desk, surrounded by a bunch of Potion books open in random pages.

“Yes, but it would also cancel the healing property of the Chizpurfle fang… we need something less potent.” he replied.

“T-then, what about dittany?” Harry considers it for a moment before deeming it was worth a shot, so he turns to nod once at Solution. The pleiade and Mare were helping him on this regard, being the most adept for it. Mare had a natural love for plants and had helped Harry create a greenhouse with them back in Nazarick’s world, so he was already familiar with most magical herbs and their properties, even if it was the first time he was learning to use them in potions. Solution on the other hand, had been the one to organize all of the ingredients in the Potions lab, and had an accurate knowledge on the quantity they had available of each ingredient.

The maid returns the nod and brings him a vial, with a soft whisper of “Only three more remaining.” Harry hums thoughtfully at that before taking the offered flask, which he immediately empties to chomp it in small pieces. Once that’s done he crushes the pieces with the knife, until the dittany is not only small but thin as well, before adding it to the bowling concoction. Stir three times clockwise, wait for the change of color… if working right, it should be tuning into a purplish color—

—but instead of that, the potion turns a dark brown. He sighs in disappointment, passing a hand through his hair as he tried to think on what exactly had gone wrong this time. Maybe if he added less Salamander blood? but then he would have to use more Root of aconite… he would have to muse it over before trying again, the ingredients they had were not infinite, and the order he had made to the apothecary would not arrive until Saturday, in two more days.

“Let’s leave it at that for now. The attack on Azkaban should be already ending.” keeping a sample of the failed experiment in a vial, he wrote down the identifying label before vanishing the rest of the potion with a wand movement. He motioned for the servants in the lab to follow him, going outside the room with silent steps. It was early in the morning, around 4 a.m. but no one in Potter Manor needed sleep so the time was almost irrelevant for them.

The moment he takes a single step out of the Potion’s lab, a phoenix flies down from its resting position at the top of the staircase, landing gracefully on Harry’s shoulder as he walked towards the living room.

Albedo is standing, watching a floating mirror as it supervised the actions of the dark creatures, while Demiurge is seated elegantly in one of the individual sofas, reading a book… was that _Hogwarts a History_? He chuckled softly at that, letting his presence be known by the quiet sound instead of the greeting he had intended.

The succubus is the one to notice him first, turning around towards him with a greeting bow, at the same time the male demon stood up to do the same. Harry dismisses the action, telling them to straighten up before questioning.

“How did it go, Albedo?” the Guardian Overseer stares for a moment at the phoenix perched on his shoulder, before focusing on Harry with a satisfied expression.

“The Death Eaters that resided in Azkaban have been “kissed”, along with a few random prisoners.” Albedo said at the same time she handled a list of names to Harry, most of them crossed with a red line. Now the only ones remaining were those that had avoided Azkaban, Pettigrew and Barty Crouch Jr. included among the “Pureblood” wizarding nobles such as Malfoy.

“Yaxley was on his post?” Harry questions for confirmation, noticing his name was also marked. The Death Eater had been working as a temporary guard, according to the information they had gathered from the controlled and tamed Dementors. Harry hadn’t noticed it in his first life, never interacting with the dark creatures unless it was to repel them, but the more souls a Dementor consumed, the more intelligent it seemed to become. There were a few capable of communicating with short, broken sentences among the group that had been living in Azkaban for the last century.

Harry deduced Yaxley had probably entered in hopes of studying Azkaban’s inner structure, and had been about to leave behind said post for one with much more power over the wizarding prison.

“Most certainly. As instructed, he was the only guard that was allowed to “die” on the attack, the rest of them were simply fed upon” He nods gratefully at that, since killing off Azkaban’s wizard guards was not necessary, he had wanted to avoid those if possible. The magic tying him to this world recognized as alive only the beings with a soul, so the dementors had helped him greatly regarding the imprisoned Death Eaters.

“Thank you, you have done a very good work.” both demons bow deeply again, this time in appreciation, so Harry waits for them to straighten up before addressing Demiurge “Have you received any notice from Aura?”

“The situation has not changed. It seems Gringotts has yet to issue an answer, even if the Goblins have already finished their investigation in the Lestrange Vault.” Aura was leading a group of  magical creatures, having tamed them with her skills so they could wait in standby near the Bank to intercept the letter Gringotts would send. There were also a few flying creatures near Malfoy Manor, just in case it was sent without them noticing.

Truth be told, Aura was to play a key part in the whole letter-interception plan. The most important thing had been to send a few of the most unassuming and small creatures inside Gringotts, having waited near the Lestrange vault to check if the Goblins followed the letter Mare had written. If the rodents came back within the first 4 days upon the receipt of the letter, then it meant the Goblins had followed their instruction. If they didn’t come back and were still perceived as alive, it would mean their notice had been ignored.

Their whole plan would have to be modified if the Goblins had chosen to overlook the letter, which had been delivered with a simple signature “H.P.” and a seal with the Peverell’s symbol. In the end however, his personal intervention had not been necessary, since the small rodents had come back when they witnessed the Goblins taking out the Golden Cup from the vault. Taking this into consideration, a notification letter should be sent any day now, but have not been done. What was taking them so long?

He hums for a moment before disregarding the issue, figuring there was nothing they could do but wait. Before he can jump to another topic however, the imperio-like state of the phoenix on his shoulder seems to finish, because the bird let out a terrible sound, a screech so strident that resembled the attack of a Banshee, windows trembling at the horribly high note. Harry frowns in displeasure at having heard it so close to him, but doesn’t react in any other way but sighing in resignation.

“I understand. You are free to leave, my apologies for having disturbed you” the angered firebird lets out another short screech at that, as if cursing at him, before flying up and disappearing in a show of flames.

Truth be told, this was the tenth phoenix Harry had summoned, since he was trying to find one that would actually stay willingly with him.

The NPCs that were present in the room had not really concealed their hostility, so it was no wonder the phoenix had left promptly without trying to get back at Harry for its “kidnapping”. He had told his guardians enough times that the bird had to choose to be his familiar willingly, and had refused to use other means (either magical like mid-control or physical like pain-inflicting) to tame it.

He sort of needed a phoenix though, it would be easier to walk around like a good guy and make the others less suspicious of him, basically deflecting wrong assumptions before they even manifested. People tended to view a person with a phoenix a lot more favorably, since it was very rare for anyone to have one as a familiar due to their selective nature. Harry would rather a genuine alliance however, since he knew Dumbledore would suspect if the bird behaved abnormally, which would be noticeable due to the fact that the headmaster had one as a familiar.

He needed to keep trying, but if Harry didn’t find any bird willing by the 30th of October he would have to proceed without one.

“Yes Aura?” Demiurge spoke suddenly, a hand raised to his temple as he received a **[Message]**. The couple of words seemed enough to disperse the tension in the room that had formed at the phoenix’s rejection, everyone now waiting impatiently for Demiurge to receive the report.

“Understood, please bring it to the Living Room once you’re back, _everyone_ is already gathered.” putting a special emphasis on the word “everyone”, Aura seemed to understand that even her Lord was present, because not a single minute had passed before she entered using the main door.

“I’m back! Sorry for the wait.” the female elf said hurriedly upon arriving at the room, accommodating the necklace that had served as a portkey so it was hidden under her red t-shirt once more. She took a quick glance around the room once the customary greeting was done with, before asking for Shalltear’s and Sebas’ whereabouts. Albedo is the one to answer, stating that they were currently on a mission outside of the Manor.

Shalltear was in an untraceable spot, which had been protected in a manner similar to the wards placed in Potter Manor, and was in charge of killing off the dementors that had already served their purpose. There was no loss in it; since Harry could always **[Summon]** more if needed, and leaving them around would have only caused disturbances.

Sebas was currently in Knockturn alley, since shopping in the shady hours of the morning seemed to be a must for dealing with this particular merchant. The butler had gone out in hopes of getting their hands on a magical eye. Harry had completely forgotten about Moody, and while he was fairly confident his illusory runes would suffice, if mostly because they were ridiculously overpowered, he would rather not run the risk.

Coming back at the present, he takes the envelope that wears the official wax seal of Gringotts, using his wand to throw diagnosis spells at it before identifying it as original. He still ordered Aura to keep her pets alert near Malfoy Manor however, in case a second letter had been sent to Narcissa.

“We can proceed in the afternoon then, since this letter would have reached Narcissa around midday.” he said without opening it, knowing fully well that would alert the Goblins that it had been intercepted. Kreacher should be the one to break the seal; his tie to the Black Family would allow the house-elf to do as much without activating the alarm.

The meeting ends after he had thanked everyone for their good work, and Harry goes up to the Potter library to research over potions ingredients. He had become a Potions Master before his second century ended, but it had been so long since he had had access to absolutely all the ingredients available on his first life…

In Nazarick, the elf twins had assisted him with the creation of a greenhouse in their floor, planting a collection of plants Harry had brought with him in his endless bag, with the objective of using them in potions. He didn’t have a sample of absolutely all magical plants however, so his experimentation had been quite limited.

Now though, he could exploit all the knowledge the old tomes held, since this was his original world. With that in mind, he spent the rest of the morning investigating over the ingredients he suspected would be needed, taking notes here and there at the margins of the yellow pages until a knock came from the library’s entrance.

He granted permission offhandedly, attention focused on an interesting bit regarding Pomegranate juice. Harry keeps reading until he felt the newcomer had approached him. He marked the page by bending slightly the upper corner of it, before closing the book to focus on his Butler.

“I trust that low wizard didn’t give you troubles?”

“None in the slightest, other than needing some persuasion to reveal the location of the item” Sebas said with a small smile, offering the magical eye to him. Huh, that explained why the butler had taken so long to come back. If the merchant didn’t have the item on his person, then Sebas had been forced to go all the way to the shady hideout, maybe even having to fight his way into the illegal base.

Harry takes the overly fake-looking round ball with an appreciative nod, the color of the iris being an angry red instead of the electrical blue he had subconsciously expected. He thanked Sebas before summoning the Elder Wand, transfiguring a chair into a copper telescope-like attachment and placing the magical eye at the biggest end of it, linking it to the mechanism. He should try this out—

His line of thought is interrupted by the sight of a newspaper that was carefully folded under Sebas’ arm, moving dark images calling for attention. The butler gave him the copy he had of the Daily Prophet when he noticed Harry’s curious gaze, the headline written in dark, big letters that denoted its importance: “DEMENTOR REVOLT IN AZKABAN LEAVES MORE THAN 30 DEAD” along with a smaller subtitle “What the ministry tried to conceal, written by Rita Skeeter”. A moving picture of a horde of dementors leaving Azkaban was posted on the front page.

Harry’s curiosity got the best of him, so he ends up reading the whole article that had more lies and drama than anything, stating rumors and conspiratorial theories as if those were proven facts. He chuckles at the most ridiculous ones, that were practically as insane as the _Quibbler_ had been, and tilted his head in interest when reaching the ones that seemed to be at least part-truth. In the end though, the whole article is useless, nothing but a waste of ink and paper.

But if the Daily Prophet copies had already been sent, that meant…

“Tempus”

He had lost track of time, it was already quarter past twelve. Standing up from the individual sofa he had been occupying, he gives the telescope-like object to Sebas, asking him to prove it with Demiurge or Albedo before striding out of the library. Elder Wand in hand, he sent his patronus stag to Grimmauld place to inform Kreacher of his imminent visit.

Once he was on the first floor he looks around briefly in search for Albedo, before he notices her presence in the Kitchen, seemingly cooking something. Whether it was cleaning, washing, cooking or sewing skills, she had practiced until being at a professional level, something she was very proud of since those were the skills an ideal “wife” was supposed to have.

“Albedo?”

“Just in time, Hadrian-sama! I’m about to finish lunch.” she said in a prideful voice, showing him an almost-done salad that looked really appetizing. He didn’t need to eat, no one here did, but since his attempts at getting a familiar had been fruitless, Albedo and Solution had taken the habit of cooking every now and then to prevent the food from going to waste. They gave some food to Aura regularly as well, to feed her new pets without losing time searching for food in the wild.

“It seems delicious, thank you Albedo” he said gratefully, ignoring with practiced ease the small, soft sound of “kuhuhu” that left the succubus lips. “I’ll place a stasis spell on it, so it’s still fresh for when I come back”

“Eh? Hadrian-sama is going out right now?”

“Yes, now should be a good time to get that bothersome item… before I leave though, can you tell me if Shalltear and Mare have come back yet?” The vampire had returned briefly, sending him a **[Message]** to request for Mare’s assistance, since collecting the Dementor’s remnants was proving to be a long, tedious task, and the involvement of magic would make it infinitely easier.

“No, but they should not take much longer… Is there anything you need from them?”

“Hm? No, I just needed to know who is out of the manor at the moment. Once they are back please give the task of recollecting magical plants to the twins, I’m running out of potion ingredients” he waits for the usual bow that came after the acceptance of an order, her crouched back staying stubbornly that way until he stepped closer to pat her head. It was a habit of sorts, even if Harry didn’t know how it had started, but the succubus practically refused to straighten up if he didn’t do this action at least once per week.

“Understood, Hadrian-sama!” was Albedo’s response, shining with renewed energy. He smiled at her in a way someone familiarized with his friend’s bad habits would, something akin to a content resignation. He nods at her in farewell before leaving the kitchen.

Let’s see… the NPCs would not let him go out unaccompanied, and while Sebas was the friendliest towards those outside Nazarick, the butler had been the one to exchange the Basilisk’s parts for money. Going with him to Gringotts was not an option.

Stepping out into the backyard, he decided to send a **[Message]** to Solution, who was currently in the potions lab, asking for her company to go pick up Kreacher. The pleiade was well behaved even with those she considered inferior; something Narberal hadn’t been able to do in the first few years in Nazarick’s world.

Extending an arm towards the maid dressed in wizarding clothes, Harry apparated silently, arriving onto the top step just outside the front door of Grimmauld Place. Entering inside the old building, he sent a silencing charm towards Walburga’s portrait before calling for Kreacher.

The house elf appears in front of him, looking at Solution a little distrustfully before his eyes focused on Harry.

“Good Lord Peverell called for Kreacher?” the elf said in a raspy voice, performing a small bow.

“Good evening Kreacher, yes I have called for you. The one accompanying me is my maid, Solution, there is no need to be wary around her.” the house elf doesn’t seem convinced, but remained silent as it answered with a single, understanding nod, seemingly happy that a wizard had wished him a good evening.

“Here, this is the letter Gringotts sent to the Black Family.” Harry said as he took out the sealed envelope from his breast pocket. The wax seal should be broken before they went to Gringotts, otherwise a tumult of questions would be directed their way.

Kreacher takes the envelope with shaking hands, seemingly in an odd combination of excitement and nervousness, before muttering under his breath “A letter for the Black Family, it’s been so long since Kreacher could serve the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black!” the wax seal is broken with giddy long fingers, the house elf taking out the letter and reading it quickly. Harry neglected to comment on the fact that the house elf could be cleaning and taking care of the decaying property, knowing that living alone with Walburga’s portrait had affected the creature quite strongly.

After a minute, the house elf folds the letter carefully and places it on the envelope once more, before it disappears with a snap of long fingers. The letter had probably been sent to the little nest of “treasures” Kreacher kept in the cupboard.

Once that’s done, the house elf looks up at Harry with determination, walking closer to him before taking the end of his robes— Ah, Kreacher probably thought he couldn’t apparate inside Grimmauld Place. Quickly taking a hold of Solution’s wrist, the three of them disappeared with a loud _Crack!_

They had arrived at Gringotts, a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops in Diagon Alley. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was a goblin, who was looking at them with inquisitive eyes.

The wizarding community was not that large, so seeing a new face in the bank was quite unusual. It was no wonder their arrival would call for attention.

Ignoring the attentive goblin, Harry leads Solution and Kreacher into Gringotts, quietly walking up the white stone steps that lead towards the main entrance. Harry smiled at the warning phrase that was engraved upon the pair of doors, remembering the little escapade that had involved a dragon, and the many years of resentment that had followed said action. Truly, Harry hadn’t been able to set foot for over a decade…

He forces himself to focus once they reach the vast marble hall, where a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses.

Harry walked directly towards a specific counter, knowing fully well it was the goblin in charge of the Lestrange vaults.

"Greetings Master Ragnuk" he said in Gobbledegook, which seemed to surprise the account manager greatly "We've come in representation of the Black Family, in regards of an item that used to be held in the Lestrange vault."

"…Lord Peverell, I assume." at Harry’s nod, the goblin lowers his head in respect “As a Master Goblin, I hold the authority to talk on behalf of the bank. Gringotts issues a formal acknowledgement to the service Lord Peverell has so kindly expressed, for the notification that was sent in complete accordance to the policies and guidelines stated by Gringotts management.”

"I, Lord Hadrian Peverell, accept the recognition bestowed upon my person” Harry answered with a respectful nod at the goblin that had raised his head to look at him “If I may make a humble request, I would be immensely grateful if my presence and the one of my female companion was to be accepted during the delivering of the item to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black”

Understanding that was the compensation Harry was asking for, the Master Goblin accepted his petition, and proceed to guide them through one of the many doors that lead off the hall and towards a private office.

Many wizards and witches had witnessed the exchange with curious eyes, since speaking the language of the Goblins was not something common. Most males seem to be immediately distracted by Solution’s appearance however, the wizarding robe doing nothing to hide her curvy body, even if it did cover more than her usual maid outfit did.

Once inside the office, Ragnuk orders for the cup to be brought before sitting down behind the desk, Harry and Solution taking a seat in front of him. The pleiade had clearly meant to stay standing behind Harry, as a servant would, but it would have been seen as a hostile action by the Goblins, so Harry had directed her a warning look that left no room for arguments.

Hufflepuff’s cup was brought by a second Goblin, contained in a transparent box that seemed to give off a bluish glint. The box was placed over the desk that had some closed books and parchments, the second Goblin leaving the office before Ragnuk directed his sharp gaze towards Kreacher.

The house elf approached the desk with slow steps, not really sure of what was going on since the whole conversation had been in Gobbledegook; and only walks more confidently when Harry sends him a reassuring nod.

Kreacher looked at the contained golden cup closely, using his magic to open the box and levitating the cursed object slowly out of it. Once the horcrux is out of the box, the malicious magic is immediately sensed in the room, which makes the house elf flinch in utter horror and fear.

"T-that is the same, is the same!" Kreacher exclaimed shakily, before looking expectantly at Harry “Good Lord Peverell will take care of it? F-for Master Regulus, he will?”

“I give you my word” Harry said softly, which seemed to be enough for the house elf. Kreacher levitated the cursed cup towards him, not wanting to touch the horcrux unless strictly necessary.

Ragnuk watches with interested eyes the polite exchange, a wizard that treated magical creatures with respect, no matter their species. No wizard had done that in a long time… the closest would be Dumbledore, and even then the Headmaster would sometimes have strong disagreements with Gringotts policies.

 Exchange being done, the business between Gringotts and the Black Family had officially ended. It was none of his concern where the cursed object ended up at, since the bank was only responsible for the delivery of the item. If the house elf had decided to give that— that _atrocity_ to a wizard that didn’t belong to the Black Family, it was up to him.

 The respectful wizard, Lord Peverell, thanked Ragnuk for his time and service in a way that showed he was knowledgeable of the customs used by the Goblin Nation, before excusing himself and walking out of the room with graceful, silent steps, flanked by the female and the house elf. Thinking back on the symbol the letter had been sent with, Ragnuk smiled to the empty room.

He wouldn’t have expected anything less from the Master of Death.

Harry felt the need to sneeze, which was ridiculous because he didn’t even need to breathe, nor could he fall ill with common diseases. Ignoring the sudden itch, he thanked Kreacher for his help, promising once more to take care of the horcrux that was now in his possession.

The house elf bows low, thanking Harry in turn with a tone that was laced in admiration, before disappearing with a loud _Crack!_ that resounded on the empty hallway that lead to Gringotts’ main entrance.

Giving the cursed cup to Solution, she pressed the item to her cleavage, her body absorbing it completely. Why did she insist on taking objects in and out of her body using that specific area, Harry didn’t really understand, so he had attributed it to her programming.

Choosing to stretch his legs in a peaceful walk, he used the long way to leave Diagon Alley, walking among the shops as he glanced around at the exposed-for-sale items. It doesn’t take long for his gaze to fall on the dress robes hanging in Madam Malkin's shop, which made him recall something he hadn’t really thought about.

He wondered briefly if his younger version would have that fight with Ron, before discarding the thought as unimportant. They had gotten over it in due time, there was no reason it would be different this time around. Eyeing the dress robe in exposition once more, Harry mentally shrugged before he and Solution entered the clothing shop, where Harry realized a single purchase.

On the 30th of August, the day previous to the return to Hogwarts, all teenagers inside The Burrow were preparing their belongings for the beginning of the new term.  Among them, a couple of male Gryffindor students were busy packing their school supplies in their respective trunks.

Harry Potter had just finished loading the bunch of new quills, a dozen rolls of parchment, and refills for his potion-making kit, when Ron made a loud noise of disgust behind him.

“What is _that_ supposed to be?”

He was holding up something that looked to Harry like a long, maroon velvet dress. It had a moldy-looking lace frill at the collar and matching lace cuffs.

There was a knock on the door, and Mrs. Weasley entered, carrying an armful of freshly laundered Hogwarts robes.

“Mum, you’ve given me Ginny’s new dress” said Ron, handing it out to her.

“Of course I haven’t. That’s for you. Dress robes.”  Ron looked horror-struck at her, which made his mother humph in exasperation.

“Dress robes!” repeated Mrs. Weasley. “It says on your school list that you’re supposed to have dress robes this year, robes for formal occasions.”

“You’ve got to be kidding,” said Ron in disbelief. “I’m not wearing that, no way.”

“Everyone wears them, Ron!” said Mrs. Weasley crossly. “I got some for Harry too… show him, Harry…”

In some trepidation, Harry opened the last parcel on his camp bed. It wasn’t as bad as he had expected however; his dress robes didn’t have any lace on them at all — in fact, they were more or less the same as his school ones, except that they were bottle green instead of black.

“Well, they’re okay!” said Ron angrily, looking at Harry’s robes. “Why couldn’t I have some like that?”

“Because… well, I had to get yours secondhand, and there wasn’t a lot of choice!” said Mrs. Weasley, flushing. Harry looked away. He would willingly have split all the money in his Gringotts vault with the Weasleys, but he knew they would never take it.

Just as he thought this, a shout came from downstairs, Ginny’s voice reaching them “A package arrived for Ron!” followed by the sound of steps of someone running upstairs. A moment after, her figure appears in the threshold, her gaze focused on the flexible package she was holding “I didn’t know you had ordered something”

“I didn’t” Ron said in a confused tone. Everyone’s eyes turned towards the package in unison, wondering about its content.

“Well, we will never know if you don’t open it!” Ginny exclaimed impatiently, throwing the package at her brother. Ron refused to catch it however, so it went down to the floor with a soft thud.

“What if it’s a prank from Fred and George? No way am I touching that!”

Hearing that exclamation, Mrs. Weasley furrowed her brows and pointed her wand at it, muttering under her breath just what exactly would happen to the twins if this resulted to be nothing but a prank.

Instead of an explosion or something of the similar caliber however, the package reveals nothing but a dark, wine-red cloth. Mrs. Weasley unfolds it with her wand, still suspicious enough to avoid touching it directly, the cloth turning out to be a wizarding robe. A male robe that looked similar to Harry’s own emerald dress robe.

A short note fell from it, elegant words written in the parchment “Happy beginning of term, you can thank me once I go to Hogwarts. Sincerely impatient, H.P.”

“A dress robe? Harry did you send—?”

“No, I didn’t go shopping remember? We were at the Quidditch Cup”

“Seriously? But it has your initials and everything!” when Harry shakes his head in negative, everyone turned to look at the floating dress robe once more, as if staring at it hard enough would make it reveal its secrets.

“Who would send a dress robe to Ron…?” Mrs. Weasley is the first to break the silence, voicing the thoughts everyone seemed to be having.

“Who cares? It’s better than Ginny’s dress!” Ron says with obvious relief, taking the horrid dress robe he had been about to place inside his trunk and throwing it over the bed.

“Why do you have one of my dresses?” Ginny asks seriously upon seeing the garment, which makes everyone inside the room laugh, even Mrs. Weasley.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR NOTE:
> 
> Now don’t look at me like that~ Yaxley became the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement when Voldemort came back, which meant he already had a job somewhere in the department right? So I made him a Guard in Azkaban, an easy job anyone could do so long they could perform a Patronus decently and went up escalating from there… or would have if he hadn’t been kissed.
> 
> Hey guys, is it normal to take a break from writing… by writing? So, my mind was like “I don’t want to write next chapter, lazy” and I was ok by abiding to it and taking a break, but then an idea struck me regarding another matter entirely, and I was like “heck yeah, let’s write that!”
> 
> So I ended up with a Prologue for another story I won’t publish because damn it I’ll never finish a story if I keep writing more of them. The heck is wrong with you brain?!
> 
> Nyx: Man, you think you have trouble writing stories? I have so many I don’t know what to work on!
> 
> dEBB987: That’s exactly what I’m trying to avoid! hahaha
> 
> So I sat down and was going to write this chapter.
> 
> But then another idea came, what if the ending for this story was like (*spoilers*)? And damn it I spent a full record of 6 hours writing the final chapter for this fanfic. So now I have a full, ended chapter I can’t publish due to, well, continuity, so it’s quite sad. I have both final chapters for both stories actually! *cries in Spanish*
> 
> Oh well… it’s a bad excuse, but that’s mainly the reason this chapter took so goddamn long to be finished.
> 
> Special thanks to reviewer MattKennedy, your question inspired me haha thanks a lot for asking what it was for, because I wouldn’t have thought it otherwise!
> 
> Also, upper-duper-special thanks to reviewers LadyAshetzi and EndlessHax for being absolute sweethearts in your comments <3 Along with the few that bother to leave reviews on almost every chapter that comes out ;) It’s good to know I count with your support!
> 
> Love ya’ dear readers! Hope you liked this chapter~ I’ll be going back to uni now, which combined with internship means little to no free time. Don’t know when the next chapter is going to be, but probably the whole second season of the anime Overlord will be out by then.
> 
> See ya’ around and happy reading! Or if you’re a fellow author, then happy writing as well!
> 
> *Words in the chapter 7.8K = 17 pages in Word


	6. The beginning

Chapter 5 The Beginning

**_Author: dEBB987    Beta: Nyx the Author_ **

“I’m incredibly blessed to be able to listen to your voice once more, Hadrian-sama!” Harry flinched at the incredibly loud words that were shout in his ear, and would feel really annoyed if it wasn’t due to the fact that the tone had been quite shaky, as if barely containing the urge to cry.

“Is everything alright Pandora?” Harry asked worriedly to Pandora’s actor, who was left in charge of Nazarick’s administration. He had been so absorbed with the activities in his original world he hadn’t even thought about communicating again until the second week of September had arrived. A whole month without supervision seemed to have shaken the overdramatic NPC.

“Ah- o-of course! How could it be anything but? The sanctuary made by the Supreme Beings will always be in pristine form!” the tone sounded calmer, dramatic as it was usual coming from Pandora. Harry frowns skeptically at the deliberate change of tone, crossing his arms over his chest as he laid back on the individual sofa he was currently using.

“Is that so? I will request something from you, and I expect nothing but the unaltered truth Pandora” Harry said warningly, which made the NPC overreact by hurriedly muttering German phrases regarding honor and loyalty. Already used to the somewhat weird character of Pandora’s Actor, Harry actually relaxed at the response; knowing he would get a truthful answer.

“Report on the events that have passed in my absence.” he ordered.

“I hear and obey!”

He sits in the quiet room, the sound of merry flames burning away in the fireplace being the only sound that accompanied Pandora’s voice. He hums at some of the events, gives advice at others where Harry didn’t agree completely with the plan Pandora was going to implement, and—

“…repeat that last part.” he said, realizing what Pandora had said.

“…I apologize profusely, to bother Hadrian-sama with something like this, but if I could get a recorded message of your high person— oh, or if I could put you on speaker! Is there a way to do that?” the creation asked hopefully.

“Not that I’m aware of. What exactly did the other servants tell you?” he asked, now worried.

“Well, they didn’t _say_ anything per se, but Cocytus has been freezing everything around him, the Pleiades were wandering around the 10 th floor sobbing softly, and I heard rumors about the regular maids building up an altar for—“ Pandora began listing off.

“That’s enough, I think I get the point.” Harry interrupted before he got to know something he didn’t really need to “My absence has not been that long… is everyone in Nazarick behaving that way?”

“…Ah, I’m afraid so. While I know it’s only been a week—“ _Wait what?_ “—the absence of our only leader has left a thorn in everyone’s hearts—“

“A week?”

“Yes!! 168 hours without our Master, 10 080 minutes without—“

“A week!” Harry repeated exasperated, he had been about to tell them they were overreacting for only a month of absence, but it had actually been a bloody week! The NPC wisely keeps silent during this small outburst, which helped Harry calm down faster.

He passed a hand through his hair, silently admonishing himself for having forgotten such an important rule when dimension-traveling. Time ran at a different pace, _always_. Still, he was glad that the time ran faster in this world than it did in Nazarick’s, he dreaded to imagine just what would become of the NPCs that were waiting for his return if a week in this world had been a month in Nazarick.

At most, Harry would need to stay around a year, which meant twelve months. If a month was a week for them then—

“If everything goes according to plan, I’ll be returning in three months.”

“Three months?! H-Hadrian-sama has never been away for so loooong!” the “o” in the last word was outstretched, since Pandora had decided to use the singing voice that defined his dramatic phrases. Harry could imagine him taking a pose, arms raised to the heavens as if begging for a godly gift.

“I will communicate with you once per week, and you can talk with me if an emergency arises.” Or at least it would be a week for Pandora. Suffering through a monthly call to make sure everything was alright in his Kingdom was the least he could do in the current situation.

“Regarding the other servants… please give this message to them.” Harry closed his eyes, picturing Nazarick’s Throne room filled with the worried expressions of his dear NPCs. With this image in mind, the words that flowed from his lips were surprisingly easy to say, nothing but undisguised truth and love laced in them.

“I am Ainz Ooal Gown.” he said regally, in a manner a king would, before his voice softened for the next words, now using a tone a parent would when consoling a child. “And so are all of you. For as long as a single member of the Great Tomb of Nazarick is alive, then my legacy and that of my friends live with you. While I may be currently absent, do not fear. I will do everything within my power to come back to you, to come back to my rightful home.” A soft sniff could be heard at that, but Harry ignored it and continued. “In the meantime, I trust you with my precious treasure, to fulfill your assigned roles and work together to take good care of Nazarick’s grounds. To take care of each other, for nothing is as important to me as your wellbeing. You will welcome my return with a job well done, won’t you?”

“Of course Hadrian-sama!” the words seemed to have been effective, and Harry’s effort was rewarded with another loud shout right in his ear. He brought a hand to massage his brows, sighing at Pandora’s overly enthusiastic response, deciding to leave his message at that.

“Thank you for your dedication, Pandora’s Actor. I trust my message will be delivered word by word, using the exact same tone I used?”

“Of course, please leave it to me!”

“I’m counting with you. There is another matter I want to address before I leave.” Harry said calmly, wishing some of his serenity would get through the message and reach Pandora “Do you have the contingency manual with you?”

“Always! I don’t go anywhere without it” Harry didn’t know what to think of that prideful response, so he chose to overlook that fun fact as if he hadn’t heard it.

“Please say ‘Summoning runes’ out loud” He listened as the NPC followed the instruction, a surprised, theatrical sound being uttered no long afterwards.

“Take the form of a Magic Caster, it doesn’t matter who so long it has an ample range of MP points. Chose a location inside Nazarick to draw that circle of runes, up to the smallest of details, and enchant the spell that is written in the upper part of the page. This will summon me back—“

“I will do it immediately!”

“No, wait Pandora. The circle can only summon me back once I’ve finished my Quest, otherwise nothing will happen and your mana will only go to waste. I will communicate with you once I determine it’s safe to go back. Am I clear?”

“…Is there really no other way to—?” Pandora began.

“I am certain. Do you have any doubts regarding this task?”

“…None, Hadrian-sama” the answer sounded resigned and somewhat sad, but still infinitely better than how it had been at the beginning of their conversation. Glad he had taken care of this pending issue, he finished the call after an exchange of farewells, taking off the little object that had been placed in his right ear. The communication device he was using to talk with Pandora was a round, smooth white pebble, the size of a penny. It would look like some sort of bone if not for the fact that it was covered in strange symbols, which shined in a golden light at determined intervals when the device was in use. Right now however, the runes were not glowing, so the drawing of the symbols seemed to have been painted with black ink.

He placed the little pebble back into the bag hanging around his neck, before looking upwards at the ceiling with a long, tired sigh, thinking on the activities he had yet to accomplish. Why did all phoenixes reject him? He wasn’t a bad person, his Karma scale was actually positive, and he always tried to be gentle with the magical creatures.

…Then again, he was surrounded by servants that would be immediately considered as evil. Thinking that may have something to do with his dilemma, he took advantage of the momentary isolation his personal chamber provided, and used his Djinn magic once more **[I wish for a Phoenix]** deciding to let go of the tight control he had over his aura.

The Djinn were shapeshifters, and one of the few heteromorphic creatures that could play with the aura of power they portrayed. As such, Harry had been experimenting if that had any impact in his attempts at getting a familiar.

A weak phoenix summoned when Harry displayed a weak aura. It didn’t result, but the bird was not as aggressive as the others had been either. A strong phoenix with a weak-aura Harry resulted terribly however, he could swear the damned bird had been trying to make him go deaf, the screech was simply too loud…

So now he was going to try to summon a weak phoenix when Harry had his full, level 100 aura on display.

A ball of fire appears over his bed, the entrance of the phoenix being something Harry had gotten used to, before a small bird falls unceremoniously over the mattress with a scared squeak. Harry blinked in incredulity from his position in the individual sofa across the room, positioned just in front of the fireplace, before walking towards his king-size bed.

The magical bird stares up at Harry with curiosity, letting out another little squeak. It was a terribly young phoenix, judging by the way its body was covered in golden feathers instead of red ones, and Harry didn’t mean young in the “recently-reborn” kind of way. It was so unusual, to find a newborn phoenix! The magical birds only had one or two offspring per century or so.

“…Ah, I apologize, I didn’t mean to take you away from your parents.” Harry takes the small bird using both palms, bringing the young bird closer to his face “Can you return home on your own?”

The phoenix stares at him, tilting its head in something akin to wonder before it used its beak to take one of the raven locks that framed Harry’s forehead. He thought the phoenix was going to pull hard at the trapped hair, but instead the bird moves it gently to one side, as if trying to comb it.

“…Thank you?” the young bird chirps happily at him, before it flies off his palms, trying to get back home. It fails miserably however; too young to be able to fly on its own, so Harry caught it with wandless magic, levitating the phoenix back into his hands.

 Damn. He didn’t know where the **[Summoned]** creatures originally came from, so Harry could not help it go back. He could vanish the phoenix, but that would place it on a random place and it was likely that the young bird would not be able to grow into adulthood on its own.

“I’m terribly sorry. It seems you will be stuck with me for the time being.” Not the way he wanted to get a phoenix, and it certainly wasn’t the regal bird he had imagined he would have as a familiar. If anything, the little thing reminded him a little of Ron’s small owl, Pigwidgeon. His only comfort was that at least it wasn’t fluffy like a fledgling would be.

Feeling the bond between wizard and familiar manifest, the golden phoenix flapped its wings enthusiastically, letting out a happy note. Harry tried to get the excited bird on his shoulder, but it lost balance and almost fell down again.

Where the heck was he supposed to place it? He couldn’t leave it alone, young phoenixes like this one required constant company to feel safe and grow healthy, but he couldn’t carry it in his hands all the time either.

Harry looked up to the ceiling once more, as if asking to the heavens why these things always happened to him, before placing the little bird on the top of his unruly head. The phoenix lets out a joyful, beautiful note, making itself at home in its new nest that was composed solely of Harry’s messy hair.

He ignored the familiar, cackling laugh Death let out at his dilemma, going out of his room without glancing back at the source of the sound.

“Well, you always had a nest for a hair!” was the horribly amused voice of his old friend, even if he couldn’t see the entity anywhere around him.

“…You’re lucky you are immortal” Harry snapped, feeling something between annoyance and embarrassment “because if you weren’t I swear to God—“

The phoenix chirps before he finishes the phrase, as if censuring him, before starting to softly sing a calming melody. It made Harry relax his shoulders, overcoming his slight embarrassment momentarily, before he felt the magical bird flap weakly its small wings and accommodate further among his raven curls.

“Aw, aren’t you a cute pair?”

“Didn’t you have a ton of work to do?”

They bicker back and forth while Harry walks in the hallway, stopping only once he reached his destination. Death leaves him alone with a parting, mocking salute, Harry answering with a fed up humph before opening the doors in front of him.

_Please let the library be empty, I’m not in the mood to explain—_

“Hadrian-sama?”

_God fucking dammit._

“Yes Sebas?” the butler’s blue eyes seemed fixed somewhere above Harry’s head, eyebrows raised slightly in surprise. Harry smiles with resignation, thinking it could have been worse. If he had been discovered so soon by someone, he was glad it had been Sebas, since he was the only NPC that had accompanied him that had positive karma points as well. With a sense of justice of 300 points, the butler had an alignment defined as “Great Good”.

“Ah, please pardon my discourtesy. If I could inquire about…?” the phrase remains unfinished, but it didn’t get a genius to understand what he was asking about.

“…young phoenixes seemed to be more receptive. I simply miscalculated exactly how young my **[Summon]** would be.” the little bird choses this time to chirp at Sebas, flapping its small wings excitedly as if becoming the butler to come closer, singing in welcome. The male NPC doesn’t say anything for a short moment, gaze still focused on the top of Harry’s head, before he places a hand over his heart and bows slightly in understanding.

“Congratulations, Hadrian-sama. Should I call Aura so she takes care of your new familiar?” Sebas’ figure is steady, and the voice sounds serious enough, but Harry’s sharp eyes could see the small, almost unperceivable smile that adorned the butler’s face. Sighing in embarrassment, he raises his arm, wanting to pass a hand through his hair as he was used to, only to stop mid-way by the loud, excited squeaking of the phoenix seated on his head.

Right. The source of this whole issue was nesting there.

“I’d have called Aura if that were an option… but the phoenix is too young, he will have to stay within my sight until it is a little bit older and able to fly.” Which would most likely happen next month, if Harry had judged its age accurately.

“I see, please forgive my thoughtless comment.” Dismissing the apology with an offhanded gesture, he started to walk towards the end of the room, where Harry had placed the vanishing cabinet. He intended to fix it this afternoon. Just as he reached Sebas’ position however, the still unnamed bird started to chirp once more.

Understanding the loud request, Harry halted just when he was in front of Sebas, before taking the phoenix from the top of his head and placing it on the gloved hands of his confused butler.

“It should be fine so long we are on the same room, just make sure I am always in its field of vision.” Looking down at the young bird in Sebas’ palms, Harry smiled at it before deciding on its name.

“Welcome to Potter Manor, Lyre.” the young phoenix that had been staring with undisguised curiosity at Sebas turned its head towards him upon hearing its new name, singing happily for a short moment as it flapped its golden wings enthusiastically.

“Take good care of it.” Harry muttered, raising his gaze to meet Sebas’. The butler is a little too slow to hide his content smile; the normally stern, icy eyes now full of warmth as he responded with an elegant short bow.

“I’ll let you know if I need anything to fix the cabinet.”

And with that he got down to work. He opened the dresser and started to throw diagnosis spells at it, confirming that the one that was broken was not the cabinet he had, but its pair that resided in Hogwarts. He would have to fix it from his side however…

He digs into the dusty corners of his mind, trying to recall anything that could help him repair the piece of furniture. In the end it was not that difficult however. The pair of vanishing cabinets was still linked, even if it was a little damaged. Taking this into consideration, Harry’s 6th attempt is successful, tracing a repairing rune and embedding it with magic to stabilize the fragile connection.

The symbol he carved at the end of the dresser glowed in a green light for a moment, Harry’s magic traveling through until it reached the cabinet’s pair, where he imagined an identical symbol would be traced upon the wood.

As such, in only an hour since he began to work on it, the vanishing cabinet is stable enough to use it as a gate, the **[Summoned]** pixie he was using to prove its safety having returned without any harm.

The sound of a calm applause comes from somewhere behind him, accompanied by the excited sounds of a bird. Wait, if Sebas was clapping, that meant—

…yes, Lyre was on the top of Sebas’ gray hair, looking like a very weird golden feathery hat. Was that how Harry had looked like? It was no wonder even someone as serious as the butler smiled in amusement!

Ignoring the embarrassment he felt, he thanks the butler before rising from the chair he had been using. Closing the doors of the vanishing cabinet, he placed a mild powered ward around it. It wouldn’t do for a Hogwarts student to get inside the manor by accident.

Ah, if only his experiments regarding potions were so easy to make. No matter how much he played with different combinations and magical properties, there was always something _missing_.

Passing a hand through his hair, he ignored the needy chirping of his new familiar, thinking on his next course of action. How exactly was he going to introduce a young, innocent phoenix to his servants who had questionable morals?

Sebas had a positive karma of 300 and it was quite fine. After him would come the elf twins, with a scale of -100… then Solution, then Shalltear, and at last both demonic NPCs, Albedo and Demiurge.

Deciding Mare would be the next best option, he sent a **[Message]** requesting his presence in the library. The male elf enters the room with insecure steps, mismatched eyes looking nervously at Harry, who was seating at the end of the room as far away from the library’s entrance as physically possible. Lyre was on Harry’s right palm, being held close to his chest in hopes it would not feel so threatened, and Sebas was standing still behind him.

Had it been an older, more experienced phoenix, the bird would have known there was more to it than simple appearance. Young as this one was however, it seemed to be instinctually wary, but did not reject or react negatively to Mare’s hand when the elf slowly came close to pet it. Harry repeated this action with Aura, but other than being more wary around her and puffing its feathers a little when she petted it, Lyre seemed to accept her presence.

Solution was a completely different story however, the bird puffed immediately, letting out a warning sound from the moment the maid entered the library, even when Harry was standing exactly at the opposite end of the large room. As the maid slowly approached, the warning sounds turned into scared squeaks. Lyre looked up at Harry with a begging gaze, the puffed feathers were so straight than it made the bird look like an odd fluffy ball of golden plumages.

“She is not going to harm you, Solution is my maid and ally.” using his free hand to caress the small head, Harry increased his magical aura as he tried to reassure his new familiar. Noticing the difference in power between Harry and the pleiade made the phoenix calm down enough to tolerate her presence at least, even if it still was a puffy ball when Solution gently petted it.

It was alright, he only needed it to be able to deliver things to the NPCs so it was not like they had to be best friends. So long Lyre could stand their presence without reacting negatively should be enough.

Deciding he had overwhelmed the small creature too much for its first day, he left the introduction of the last three NPCs for another date.

Faster than Harry thought it would be, the days turn into weeks, until he had reached the day when everything would begin. It was Halloween, October 31th.

Mare, Albedo and Solution are with him in the Potion’s lab. The elf and the succubus discuss theories back and forth, writing down notes on which combination of ingredients could work with what, while Solution states how many batches they could make until running out of ingredients once again.

Harry was using a pensieve in the meantime. He was reviewing his memories from the years 5th to 7th in Hogwarts, choosing the ones he would be sending later in the night. This was a slow process, since he wanted to portray certain events without showing too much information. As such, he spends the next couple of hours reviewing the chosen memories again and again; filtering more of them until he deems it’s acceptable enough.

Going out of the pensieve, he takes a relatively large flask to contain the chosen chain of memories. Feeling playful, Harry ties a small note to the neck of the small bottle, remembering with amusement the first attempt of the Floor Guardians at seeing memories.

Once that’s done, he announces to the NPCs within the Potion’s lab that he will return shortly, once he has sent the memories with Lyre. The young phoenix had grown up enough to know how to fly, even if Harry had been forced to take the form of a bird to teach it. As such, this was going to be Lyre’s second errand.

When Harry opened the door to get out of the Potion’s lab however, the view that greeted him made him halt in surprise. A dark feline the size of a horse shows its canines threateningly at him, the thin throat inflating in a manner similar to a blowfish with large, external spines covering the furless skin. Before it has the chance to growl however, Aura falls down over his head with a panicked shout of “NOT HIM YOU IDIOT! MARE! YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO SCARE MARE!”

Harry chuckled at the heartfelt apology Aura directed at him, smiling with amusement at the female elf. Trust Aura to use one of the most dangerous creatures known to wizardkind for a Halloween prank!

The creature was a Nundu, a large East African beast that resembled a leopard. It moves silently, despite its large size, and is considered by some to be the most dangerous creature alive. The breath of the Nundu is toxic and filled with disease so potent that was known to wipe out entire villages of people. The Nundu is extremely hard to subdue, and has never been defeated by less than around one hundred wizards working together. Compared to the dragons used in the Triwizard Tournament, which were stunned into submission by around ten wizards, the prospect of this rare beast becomes truly terrifying.

And Aura had decided the best use for it was a _prank_.

The subdued Nundu and the female elf stand at the side with a bow, to let Harry pass. He ruffles Aura’s hair with an amused chuckle before going upstairs to his room, where Lyre was resting in its perch.

The young phoenix has a combination of red and golden feathers which denoted its true age, but still managed to fly gracefully towards Harry. He moves to the side, evading the magical bird that had intended to land on the top of his head, before admonishing it.

“I’ve told you many times already. You can land on my arm or shoulder, but not on my head, you’re not so small anymore” Lyre lets out a saddened note, before landing on Harry’s outstretched arm with resignation. Honestly, he may have spoiled it a little too much…

Caressing the head of his familiar in consolation, he places the bird in his desk before taking out the small leather bag that contained the flask with memories and tying it to the outstretched claw of the phoenix. If Lyre had already been to Hogwarts, he would be able to teleport to the school, but the bird had been too young to send it in such a long trip. As such, it would have to take the long route, which was the reason Harry needed to send it with time if he wanted the phoenix to reach its destination at night.

“I’ll be counting with you, Lyre. Don’t deliver this until the owner of the office is alone in it ok?” the phoenix chirps in understanding at him, rubbing its head against Harry’s palm in a way a cat would have, before flying off his open window.

Getting out of his room, a surprised male cry could be heard all the way to the second floor. Harry laughed softly at that, silently congratulating Aura in a prank well done before walking downstairs to continue to work on the potion batches.

Later in the night, an old wizard entered Hogwarts’ Headmaster office, wearing an expression of worry and apprehension behind half-moon spectacles that made him look much older. He was thinner as well, something the Deputy Headmistress never failed to comment on with concern.

Dumbledore strode with automatic movements into the office, seating behind his desk. The events that had passed in the last few months where taking a toll on him. First, his wand had disappeared in August. It had not been stolen, but simply _disappeared_. He was sure of this fact because he had been using it in that moment, spell halting mid-way due to the elder wand vanishing from his dominant hand.

He had been forced to take out his original wand, and the fact that he didn’t know what caused such event still made him lay awake at night. A thousand of hypothesis ran through his head, each as unlikely as the last, so he was already alert when Amelia had called for him on that fateful night.

A dementor’s revolt in Azkaban, as if the Ministry didn’t have their hands already full with the events of the Quidditch cup. Such a thing was unavoidable; he had warned Cornelius of that fact many times before it happened, stating that the dark creatures would not remain loyal to the Ministry, since Voldemort (or any Dark Wizard for that matter) could offer them much more scope for their powers and food than Cornelius would ever be able to.

What he couldn’t understand was why the dark creatures were able to get through the wards placed to contain them, nor the reason the patronus were ineffective against them. He feared an unknown Dark Wizard was moving behind the stages, for if it had been Voldemort’s doing, then the Death Eaters imprisoned in Azkaban would not have died. He imagined a dark, cloaked figure, planning an attack with Dementors that could not be stopped by Patronus.

It would not be fight, but a one-sided massacre, since that charm was the only defense the wizards and witches had against such dark creatures.

If he had had troubles getting sleep before, it was nothing on comparison on how it was after that particular event. And now…

He placed his head in his open palms, closing his eyes with worry as he ignored the muttering of the portraits in his office. He was wondering about the night’s events and how Harry’s name could have ended up in the Goblet of Fire when the calming melody of a phoenix reached his ears.

Naturally, he turned to Fawkes to smile gratefully at it, thinking it had reacted to his unease, but the bird was silent as it flew towards him, positioning itself on his right shoulder. Curious, he turned towards the window, since Fawkes was staring at it quite intently.

A phoenix that had more golden feathers than red was gracefully posed in the window that led to his office, finishing off its song with a beautiful note before falling silent. He uses his original wand to open the window, the magnificent bird flying towards his desk. Now that it was closer, he could see it had a small bag tied in its claw, which the bird raised towards him upon landing.

Untying the leather bag, he’s surprised to discover a small flask with swirling, grey liquid inside. The contained memory has a small note tied to the neck of the bottle, the mocking words he recognized from the muggle book “Alice in Wonderland” written in it.

“Please don’t drink me. _”_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR NOTE:
> 
> For those that have read my other story, now you know why all the guardians drank them first! You hadn’t noticed, I’m sure hahaha! You lucky readers, I somehow had enough time and inspiration to write down this chapter. Lucky you, lucky you!
> 
> Now, this is probably really the last you’ll see in a while, but I guess no one sees the future. Next update may be in this story, or in my other one. It may be next week, it may be in two months, who knows? Wish me luck either way.
> 
> As for why Aura seemed to know the concept of “Halloween”? I’ll write about that in another chapter. Let’s just say the concept of holidays was entered when Harry got his own Kingdom, which ensued in a lot of entertaining situations that made him curse to the heavens.
> 
> Well, that’s all. Hope you liked it and see ya’ around. Whether is soon or not it’s up to real life events I guess~
> 
> Bye and thanks for the support! Leave me reviews, those make me feel like I’m doing a good job with this story :P
> 
> *Words in this chapter 5.5K = 11 pages in Word.
> 
> Nyx: Check out my stories as well for more Overlord stuff, as well as some other stuff like RWBY and FMA.
> 
> dEBB987: Personally, my favorite is his x-over with FMA. A very interesting read, I really recommend it!


	7. Alliance

Chapter 6 Alliance

**_Author: dEBB987    Beta: Nyx the Author_ **

Hogwarts had Wards that prevented any sort of magical, instantaneous teleportation, such as apparition and portkeys. Only Floo Powder was allowed, and merely in the fireplace present in the office of the Headmaster for external visitors, while the teachers could only use it to move inside Hogwarts to visit their coworkers. This security measure could be lifted at the Headmaster’s will, as it was commonly done for the apparition tests performed in the Great Hall for the seventh year students.

Potter Manor had such wards, at least, the building itself did.

The backyard on the other hand, simply had an Yggdrasil protection known as **[Delay Teleportation]** which was a spell that could hinder briefly the teleportation effects, buying them several seconds of time that would be typically used to flee or prepare an attack. In addition, the spell also informed the caster of how many beings would be teleporting in the affected area.

 Harry had designed it this way so the NPCs could come in and out of the manor quickly for their missions, and he always received a mental alert when they used any such method. That was, really, the only use he had meant for it.

Right now however, there was a very odd, blurry magical ball that looked like a small reddish hurricane moving in slow motion. The ball was suspended just over Harry’s hand, appearing with the activation of a portkey.

…It had been an interesting plan, Harry admitted.

After the set of memories he had sent to Dumbledore, he had certainly expected a response requesting a meeting; that much was within his predictions. A whole day he subconsciously waited, then another, and finally in the morning of the third day after Halloween his familiar returned with a red envelope in its beak. _A howler._

Harry had been in the backyard reviewing how many magical plants and creatures were left when his familiar came, causing Aura to halt on her report. Curious about the contents of the Howler, he raised a hand to his shoulder to pet Lyre in thanks before taking the envelope from its beak, opening the letter before it exploded.

But instead of the message he was expecting to hear, only a single word was uttered in Dumbledore’s voice.

“Hireath”

Harry only had enough time to think a single, simple _What?_ before the red letter in his hand started to move, twisting against itself until it formed the circular blurry thing that was now suspended on Harry’s hand.

The howler was a _portkey_. It was odd, unexpected, and absolutely something Dumbledore would do now that Harry thought of it.

Deciding to attend to the unforeseen meeting, he simply extended an arm for Aura to come with him before the effect of **[Delay Teleportation]** ended, and the portkey finally activated at its fullest.

They arrived at a cold, snowy clearing that led to a forest, the branches of the trees were a dry dark brown, but most still had some leaves in them. It was completely different from the cloudy but warm morning Harry and Aura had been enjoying in Potter Manor.

 _A different country perhaps?_ Harry mused, ignoring the warm ashes he felt sliding from in-between his fingers, the remnants of the howler that had burned upon arriving.

Neither of them was affected by the cold air, having protections against **[Freeze]** negative status. Lyre on the other hand simply shivered before moving closer to his neck, pressing the lean, feathery body against it as if trying to hide from the wind.

Harry could sense a presence somewhere near the edge of the forest. Taking off his cloak, he gave it to a surprised Aura while softly asking “Are you cold?” and discretely looked to determine who was accompanying them. Unsurprisingly, Dumbledore was standing over a rock so he didn’t leave any marks in the snow, a thin layer of magic covering his body that made him invisible for everything and everyone.

For everyone except Harry and Aura of course.

Harry had a job class that allowed him to see through illusions and invisibility, to an extent, while Aura was a ranger, and could perceive the presence near them even if she may not be able to see through it.

The dark elf was smart enough to catch his intent however, so she only nodded gratefully and put on the cloak that was only slightly big on her, crossing her arms as if hugging herself while fake-trembling.

“Can you come out please? It is quite cold so I’d rather deal with this as soon as possible” Harry called out, looking around as if searching for others as he feigned to be unaware of Dumbledore’s presence.

He felt the magic around them shift slightly, something he recognized as an anti-apparition ward, while Dumbledore lifted his invisibility at the same time a loud _Crack!_ resounded in the air.

Oh, it was probably meant to make them think apparition was still possible.

“I apologize for the delay, I wasn’t sure you would come” the headmaster said softly, calmly walking closer to their position. Now that Harry could look at him directly, he noticed Dumbledore seemed… different.

The old man was thinner and he looked like he hadn’t had a single good night of rest in the last week or so, since not even the half-moon spectacles could hide the bags under his tired eyes. Seeing the old man with such bad health was worrisome, for not even when Dumbledore’s hand had been cursed had he looked so _fragile_. Had he caused this? Harry knew that taking the elder wand was going to worry him, it’s not like he had done that on purpose, but—

“Who are you?” Aura asked innocently, tilting her head slightly while trembling in apparent cold. Her youthful appearance made her look somewhat harmless, but the Headmaster was still on guard, judging by his posture.

“I believe knowledge is not something you lack” he answered softly not to Aura but to Harry, wand pointing downwards nonthreateningly. The fact that it was already on his elderly hand was a telltale of his wariness though, even if it was not as strong as it would have been without Lyre’s presence. The phoenix was calmly posed over his right shoulder, watching with young curiosity the situation.

But in spite of Dumbledore’s suspicion, Harry didn’t feel threatened at all. He looked peacefully at his old mentor, feeling nostalgic as he recalled events long past, before smiling softly at him.

“Hello Professor Dumbledore,” he greeted, pulling up the sleeves on both arms to assure the other he was unarmed, even if Aura looked confusedly at the action “It’s been so long since I last saw you.” _alive that is_.

Harry had called for him with the resurrection stone a few times, mostly when he was still adjusting to his new role as the Master of Death in the first few centuries. The old headmaster had not minded at all, wanting to repay Harry for the mistakes he had made when he still lived, even if Harry never really faulted him for them.

Dumbledore’s advice had helped him a lot back then, a guidance that made his burden easier to bear before he fully adapted and accepted his new reality. Looking back at the memories of that time, even after everything he had lived through, Harry would still define it as the worst phase of his long, unending life. Back then, he had been forced to deal with thoughts that made his own mind his worst enemy.

_And now that I'm immortal, what will I do!?_

_In a hundred years will I still be the same? Will I outlive the ones who know my name? But it wouldn’t end there, it didn’t have an end._

_What about a thousand years? Will I be all alone? What would happen to the place I called home?_

_Would it be even possible to settle down again? Others would notice I don’t age. Will I be forced to roam far, far away…?_

The advice from Dumbledore and the others, like Sirius and his parents, had made it bearable at the very least, an escape of the spiral of depressive scenarios that had kept coming and _coming_ —

“Is that so? For me this is the first time we meet.” Dumbledore interrupted his line of thought, smiling back even if the blue gaze was not nearly as warm as Harry recalled “However, I understand why you’re already familiar with me. Why, this is the first time I’ve met such a talented seer.” the old man said with a short chuckle.

_...what?_

“Is that the conclusion you’ve reached?” Harry asked neutrally, trying to determine the motive behind Dumbledore’s statement.

“The other options are much less likely, quite impossible actually.” the old man said merrily “I do admit you look remarkably alike of course, you’ve done a very good work at implementing charms to change your appearance.”

_Was this some kind of test? Or was him truly skeptical? No, being Dumbledore, the objective would most likely be—_

“Ah, you can’t stop acting now.” Harry said with slight exasperation, which made Lyre release a short, calming note. Harry petted the phoenix absentmindedly in thanks before looking impassively at Dumbledore “I won’t tell you more than I’ve already done.”

In summary, Dumbledore had wanted Harry to tell him something only ‘someone from the future’ would be able to. He was fishing for information, for the details he had skipped in the memories.

“Hm? I’m afraid I don’t—“

“I’ll do the Unbreakable Vow then.” Harry interrupted, extending his right arm towards Dumbledore “You can be the bonder.”

The atmosphere grew tense for an infinitely long moment as they weighted each other’s determination, neither side wavering until Dumbledore sighed tiredly, sounding as old as he looked.

“Very well then.” the headmaster walked closer, but halted before he could take Harry’s hand. The reason of said action was standing between them, a confused and distressed Aura that had moved in the last moment.

“Hadrian-sama” she mumbled, mismatched eyes looking worriedly at him as she showed her unprotected back to Dumbledore in a manner that totally dismissed him as a threat “What exactly does that imply? It’s not something risky right?”

Harry smiled warmly at her, patting her head as he reassured “It is not. The vow only has a negative consequence when the party involved utters a lie, but I don’t intend to do so.”

“What’s the ‘negative consequence’?” Aura retaliated without missing a beat, even if she looked calmer as her head moved slightly from side to side, in sync with his hand. Harry simply ruffled her hair one last time before walking around her to reach Dumbledore, so the dark elf was now at his left side.

“I assure you it won’t come to that, you have my word. You can trust me, right?” Aura inflated her cheeks in response, mumbling something that sounded remarkably like a “Not fair” before nodding her acceptance reluctantly.

“If something bad happens I—“

“You can take me back home, yes” Harry interjected, knowing the words ‘will kill him’ were about to leave her lips. Aura didn’t seem to agree as she looked apprehensively at him again, but Harry simply used his left arm to hug her shoulders reassuringly before offering the right one to Dumbledore once again.

“Sorry about that, we can begin now.”

“There is no need to apologize; an Unbreakable Vow is not something that can be taken lightly after all.” Dumbledore said with an understanding gaze as he grasped his right hand. _Manipulative little—_

“Why? What happens when—“

“Do not take the bait Aura.” Harry said simply, which made her fall silent immediately “Professor Dumbledore, please focus on the vow, I do not have much time to spare.” he said in an admonishing tone, feeling slightly annoyed.

“Of course” the headmaster looked quite satisfied at his no-nonsense reaction, which made Harry understand why the old man infuriated others so easily. _Merlin bless Mcgonagall and her infinite patience when dealing with him._

Dumbledore placed the tip of his wand over their hands, so Harry could finally begin the proclamation of his oath.

“I hereby swear I was born Harry James Potter, son of James Potter and Lily Evans.” A thin tongue of brilliant flame issued from the wand and wound its way around their hands like a red-hot wire. The declaration seemed to surprise Dumbledore slightly; maybe a part of him had truly been skeptical after all?

“I hereby swear that I’ve come from a time long into the future and that my purpose in this time is to defeat the Dark Lord known as Voldemort, as well as his wizarding army.” A second tongue of flame shot from the wand and interlinked with the first, making a fine, glowing chain. Aura looked with concern at the magic, probably still musing over Dumbledore’s words and worrying needlessly.

“I hereby swear that I only mean to support the young Harry Potter that is currently a Hogwarts’ student, so he doesn’t bear the weight of the prophecy on his own.” this last oath made Dumbledore’s hand twitch, heavy eyes making him look even older. Harry looked up to meet the blue gaze, silently asking if there was anything else he would like to add.

Dumbledore doesn’t answer verbally, but simply stepped away as the hand released its grasp, the magical chain glowing one last time before vanishing from his skin.

“How long Harry?” the old man asked softly, sad for a reason Harry didn’t really understand “No, a more accurate question would be… how old are you?”

 _So that was it_. If he recalled correctly, the first conversation he had had with Dumbledore using the resurrection stone, the one where Harry told him about his title and what it implied… Dumbledore had made that same sad, almost pitiful expression.

“…I admit I don’t really count the years anymore. I have accepted the long lifetime my title entails, so there is no need to worry about me” Harry smiled truthfully at him before looking down warmly at Aura. She tilted her head confusedly, but Dumbledore seemed to catch his meaning, which made the headmaster show a small smile.

“I am glad you are not alone.”

“I never am. Life would be quite dull without others to share it with after all.” Aura seemed to understand upon hearing his answer, which made her show a big, toothy smile that made her look even younger.

“We will always be here for you Hadrian-sama!” she exclaimed before sniffing, mismatched eyes shining brightly as if trying not to cry in sheer happiness.

“I look forward to it.” he said warmly, squeezing Aura’s shoulder in thanks before taking back his left arm to roll down the end of his sleeves again, trying to look more human by acting as if bothered by the cold. Seeing said action Dumbledore waved his wand in a circular motion, placing a warming charm over Harry and Aura before lifting the anti-apparition ward.

“Let us move to a more comfortable place, if you have time for tea of course?”

“The prospect of warm tea after this cold is quite appealing” he agreed with a light nod “I just need to send a message back home so they don’t worry over me.”

“Oh, are there others?”

“Aura is not the only one helping me fulfill my purpose.” he confirmed before turning to face the dark elf “My coat should have a small box made of wood in the pocket, can you give it to me?”

She nodded, searching for the item while humming happily before taking out a small box, the size of a penny. Carefully giving the item to him, Harry said out loud the keyword to enlarge it, the box now being the size of a notebook before opening it.

A parchment and a dictating quill came out of it, floating mid-air and ready to be used. The dictating quill actually wrote what it heard instead of making the inaccurate descriptions the quick-quote quill of Skeeter did, so everyone kept silent and waited for Harry to speak.

“I am currently out of the manor, accompanied by Aura. I will return before the day ends, in the meantime you may continue with your usual activities.” he said, watching with interest as the quill moved over the parchment “Please inform the others upon receiving this notice.”

Finishing the letter with the store-defined keyword ‘detineo’ the dictating quill stopped its movement and returned to the box, which shrunk automatically.

Bending the parchment, he didn’t bother with an envelope and gave it to Lyre, the young phoenix taking it with its beak.

“Go back home and deliver it to Sebas. If he is not there then you can go to Mare, understood?”

The phoenix simply moved its head against his cheek in understanding before it flew up and disappeared in a curtain of flames. Harry watched it leave before giving the small box back to Aura and focusing on Dumbledore once again.

“Will we use apparition?”

“That would be the best way, yes.” the headmaster looked curiously at him, probably wondering just how many people were living with Harry, but didn’t inquire on the matter and simply extended an arm. Harry grasped Dumbledore’s forearm at the same time he offered his left arm to Aura, waiting for her to take it before the three of them disappeared with a loud _Crack_!

To Harry’s surprise, they appeared directly at the Headmaster’s office. It was a very specific point on the office however, near the corner, so he guessed the reduced space had been the only one meant to allow apparition, while the protective wards were still up and running around the rest of Hogwarts grounds.

Dumbledore’s control over the wards was certainly impressive, he had to admit.

The headmaster made a motion with his wand, a couple of chairs floating towards the desk until they were in front of it, before calling for one of the house elves to request tea. Harry looked around the office with a nostalgic gaze; when was the last time he had been in this office? When Lily was suspended for pulling that school-wide prank in seventh year? When she graduated? He couldn’t recall the exact moment he had leaved this office, not knowing it would be the last time.

It looked weird without Dumbledore’s, Snape’s and Mcgonagall’s portraits, he felt as if something was missing. The office just wasn’t the same without looking at them discussing back and forth about something the current headmaster was doing. On normal circumstances, it mostly consisted on Snape bickering along with Mcgonagall while Dumbledore chuckled and listened patiently, before answering it was not up to them to decide anymore.

Harry and Aura only sat down once the house elf arrived with the set of tea, placing it over the desk before disappearing again. Dumbledore sat in front of them, as the owner of the office, placing a privacy ward around the area so the nosy portraits wouldn’t hear their conversation.

For a short moment, only the clinking of porcelain could be heard as they prepared their tea in amiable silence. Harry chuckled at Aura when he noticed the huge amount of sugar she was adding to her tea, but was immediately distracted by Dumbledore’s voice as the headmaster finally decided to break the silence.

“This may be a pointless question, but I need to confirm… are you really the Master of Death?” the blue gaze was serious, a poker face well-constructed that didn’t express any of Dumbledore’s emotions. But even then, Harry could see something akin to sorrow and guilt mixed in the oddly dull eyes.

The last memory Harry had sent was of him receiving his title, and the conditions that came with it, so he was not really surprised by the question.

“I am.” he confirmed, taking a sip of tea before placing the cup back at the small plate and rising his dominant hand to summon the elder wand. Harry placed the thin wood over the desk’s surface, the end pointing at the window in the office, before he laid back in his seat and made a gesture signaling it was fine for the other man to examine it.

The headmaster didn’t hesitate to take a hold of the elder wand, turning it at odd angles and using his own original wand to run a diagnosis over it before sighing in relief.

“Thank Merlin it is with you, I was worried it would end in wrong hands.” Dumbledore explained, giving back the elder wand.

“…Is that the reason you look so tired?” Harry asked with a worried frown, taking the elder wand before making it disappear again. Right now it wasn’t needed. Dumbledore seemed surprised for a short moment, looking at him curiously before nodding slowly, almost reluctantly.

Harry had no way of knowing Dumbledore was using a charm to hide the worst aspects of his fatigue, since Harry’s passive ability allowed him to look pass them as if they didn’t even exist.

“One of many Harry, one of many…” Dumbledore took off the half-moon glasses, massaging his brows in apparent stress for a short moment before placing them on again “Have you heard perhaps, of the Dementor’s revolt in Azkaban?”

That… was a very legit source of concern, Harry felt idiotic for not having considered it before. So Dumbledore was worried the dementors were going to cause havoc among the muggles? Harry felt somewhat guilty, but it was not like he could have communicated with Dumbledore to let him know the dark creatures were exterminated after their ‘escape’.

The old wizard probably didn’t even know the dementors could be destroyed, now that he thought of it.

“There is nothing to worry about in that front.” Harry answered softly, indirectly admitting he was behind said action as he took another sip of tea “The dementors were destroyed after they left Azkaban’s lands.”

“Ah, so you organized the attack” it was not a question, but Dumbledore seemed to be more contemplative than mad “That would explain why all Death Eaters were kissed— _destroyed you said?_ ”

The headmaster must have been as tired as he looked, otherwise he would have reacted faster to that bit of information. Harry simply nodded, explaining in a half-lie that the spell to destroy them had been discovered in the future, some centuries after acquiring his title.

“I see… that is certainly good to hear” Dumbledore muttered before frowning lightly in confusion “but I don’t really understand, why give them that protection?”

“Protection?”

“The Patronus didn’t have any effect on them. Why was that necessary—? No, why was that attack needed to begin with?” Dumbledore didn’t seem to be judging him, but the old man obviously didn’t agree with Harry’s actions.

“One of the aspects of my title is that, under very specific circumstances, I can receive requests. The one I received from someone in this world was for me to kill Voldemort and his wizarding army.” Harry said seriously, before frowning in puzzlement “and regarding the protection… it was probably a secondary effect that came with our control over them.”

The creatures that were tamed by Aura automatically gained a rise in level, making them more resistant and increasing their attack. The immunity against the Patronus charm probably derived from it, even if Harry had not been aware of that fact.

It was no wonder Dumbledore had been worried. What could a wizard do against a dementor without using that charm?

“Was that spell also invented in the future?” Dumbledore asked skeptically, which made Harry shake his head in negative.

“No, this one comes from another world, the one I currently reside in” Harry looked meaningfully at Aura, who had stayed silent for the whole conversation, so she raised her hand childishly and exclaimed “Yep! I can make creatures stronger once I’ve tamed them!”

This ensued in a long conversation regarding the magic and skills of other worlds, but Harry didn’t really enter in much detail, explaining that different worlds meant different magic, and that his very own arsenal was composed by a mix of them.

Some were limited, meant to be used only on the worlds they belonged to, but Harry only bothered to remember the ones he could use freely in other worlds once the original perished.

Even for someone as old as Harry, his mental capacity was limited. It didn’t matter how long he lived, he just couldn’t remember _all of his experiences_ and lessons learned from all his previous lives _at all times_. This little detail was the reason behind most mistakes, simply because he couldn’t really recall he had already done something similar a couple of lives ago.

In that sense, Harry considered himself to be quite human-like.

Dumbledore expressed his understanding with a nod; his hands interlaced over the desk’s surface before asking another question “Are their deaths really necessary though? A request is something that can be denied after all—“

“I cannot.” he lied fully for the first time. It was necessary however, so he looked seriously at Dumbledore and explained “If we are to return to our home, back to our world… I need to fulfill the request. Otherwise I won’t be able to leave this world, and the ones that accompanied me would have to stay as well.”

“Oh.” Dumbledore’s expression changed from stern to resigned, but the old man seemed to understand this wasn’t something he could interfere with “I see… your hands really are tied then.”

“I’m afraid that is the case.”

Tea time turned into lunch, with Dumbledore requesting food to be brought from the house elves once more, and sending his phoenix patronus to McGonagall so she would know he was going to be absent from the Great Hall today. It was on the pretense of resting, so the Head of Gryffindor didn’t protest at all at the notice.

Their talk was seemingly unending, one topic going to the next before they finally reached the cherry on the cake.

 _Horcruxes_.

“Of course I am aware of their existence, their destruction was necessary to defeat him after all.” Harry raised an incredulous eyebrow at Dumbledore’s question, which made the other chuckle lightly.

“I apologize Harry, you look so young I tend to forget.” he explained lightly with warm eyes, before turning serious once more “If you destroyed them back then however, does that mean you know how many are there? Which relics did Voldemort use as containers?”

“Indeed. I remember the locations as well, so I have some of them already on my possession. I have not destroyed them unless necessary though, I think that is something you should participate in.”

Dumbledore didn’t seem to understand what he meant, so Harry simply turned his empty palm upwards at the same time he called back to him the resurrection stone.

Blue eyes opened wide behind half-moon glasses upon seeing the ring, before the old man stood up in a hasty, ungraceful movement.

“ _That—!”_

“—Is a _horcrux_ ” Harry interrupted severely, which made Dumbledore snap out of his haze. The headmaster had looked ready to take the ring, probably wanting to use it as soon as humanly possible, which had made Aura straighten in attention on her seat, ready to interfere if the old man stepped closer.

Harry was actually surprised the other didn’t request the resurrection stone as soon as he showed he could summon the elder wand. Probably the lack of sleep was affecting Dumbledore greatly, more than he had previously assumed.

Dumbledore looked at the ring with something akin to shame, just now noticing the dark magic that was oozing from it, before he all but collapsed back into his seat.

“I see, of course you are right…” the headmaster looked crushed, a sad desperation that seemed to be about to consume him before Harry spoke again, this time more softly.

“You can borrow the hallow once we destroy the horcrux in it,” the phrase made Dumbledore look up in attention, his head moving so fast Harry wouldn’t be surprised if the neck had been injured “The stone will keep working even once the horcrux is gone, as it did back then.”

“…Thank you.” the old voice is filled with relief, and old hand coming up to Dumbledore’s eyes as if trying to hide from the world “Thank you so much Harry, _thank you_.”

He was crying; Harry had no doubt about that even if he couldn’t see his eyes. The quivering of his voice, thick with emotions, told him as much. Harry didn’t blame him; the old man had wanted to apologize to Ariana for so long…

Aura looked oddly at the touching scene, opening her mouth to ask something, but Harry simply smiled at her while making a shushing motion. She nodded silently in understating with a small smile of her own, so they both waited patiently for Dumbledore to calm down.

“After everything you have gone through, I think it is only fitting for you to destroy the horcrux that resides in the ring.” Harry spoke softly after a while “The sword that hides in the sorting hat should be enough to do it.”

“Basilisk venom of course.” Dumbledore whispered much more calmly, uncovering his eyes before rising from his seat to bring the sorting hat. If the headmaster took advantage of the placed distance to clean the tear marks on his face Harry feigned not to notice, waiting calmly in his comfortable seat.

Dumbledore returned after a short moment, offering the hat to Harry, but he just shook his head in negative and refused to take it.

“After such a long life, I don’t think I’m Gryffindor enough to do it.” he explained simply. Harry could probably force the sword to appear, but why risk damaging the hat when there was a Gryffindor in the room?

Dumbledore smiled sadly at him before nodding, taking the sword out of the hat without any difficulty. Harry placed the ring over the desk before rising from his seat, taking a couple of steps back to place some distance. Aura imitated the action, standing protectively just in front of him.

The headmaster didn’t pay any attention to them though, focused completely on the ring as he brought down the sword in a single, precise movement.

A bloodlike substance, dark and tarry, seemed to be leaking from the middle of the stone where the sword had pierced it, before the ring started to vibrate violently and a scream of pain was released from it. The sound seemed to echo in the office, but the privacy wards prevented anyone from hearing it.

Once the headmaster retired the tip of the sword from the stone Harry stepped closer, taking the ring to inspect it before deeming the horcrux had been completely destroyed. Congratulating Dumbledore for a work well done, he walked around the desk to give him the ring, with Aura following right at his side with a carefree expression.

…Which was a _lie_.

The dark elf was actually on guard, ready to move and protect Harry if necessary. He was used to the overprotectiveness his servants tended to display however, so he didn’t comment on it, and Dumbledore was too focused on the ring on his hand to notice anything else.

“You can borrow it for the next couple of days, so you can do what you need to.” Harry instructed softly, which made the old man nod distractedly. Feeling like he was intruding in a personal moment, he looked at the night sky that could be seen from the office’s window before saying “Well then, it seems to be quite late. I’ll be heading back—“

Harry’s phrase was interrupted by the green flashing of fire that came from the fireplace, before a wizard dressed in black robes came out of it with long strides.

“Dumbledore—“ the Potions master started to say, before halting upon noticing Dumbledore was not alone. Snape glanced briefly at Harry with something akin to confusion, before the dark gaze focused completely on Aura.

 _Snape seems to recognize her?_ was the last thought Harry could have before the spy raised his wand threateningly at them, which made Aura instinctually react by neutralizing the threat—

—or trying to at least, if she hadn’t been stopped at the last second by Harry’s hand on her shoulder.

He pulled at her to stop her momentum, which made Aura give a couple of steps back with a surprised expression. Harry ignored her in favor of giving a warning stare at Snape however, which made the man tense impossibly.

Deeming the wizard was not going to attack, Harry finally turned his annoyed gaze towards Dumbledore.

“…It seems you neglected to block the fireplace.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Note:
> 
> Well, Harry’s thoughts regarding his own immortality were inspired by the song “Faster Than You Know” made by Black Gryph0n & Baasik. Feel free to check out the lyrics~
> 
> As for the reason I didn’t mention the exact content of the memories? It’s very simple. It would have been author's suicide! An invitation to find contradictions or loopholes either in this chapter or the ones to come, so no thanks hahaha it’s better to simply skip it. We already know what happened in those years either way~
> 
> This chapter was kinda short with only 5.7K words = 13 pages in word, but it has been sitting here neglected for so long, I just wanted to finish it.
> 
> Time dear readers, time! Writing-time is becoming scarcer every day, what with exams coming and internship ending to become a real job. A very REAL time-consuming job!.
> 
> I still write because I like to, I find it relaxing and easy to do, not to mention the ideas just keep coming and coming for both stories! This is just to warn that updates may take longer *sighs tiredly*
> 
> Either way, thanks for reading and hope you liked it. See ya’ around~ and wish me luck plz! I’m gonna need it!


	8. Albus Severus

Chapter 7 Albus Severus

**_Author: dEBB987    Beta: Nyx the Author_ **

For an infinitely long moment nobody moved, a heavy silence filling the room with tension before Dumbledore finally decided to speak.

“There’s no need to be wary Severus, they are invited guests.” the headmaster said softly, which made Snape glare briefly at him before the dark gaze focused back on Aura. Merlin, why was the man so on guard—?

_…Oh no, please let me be wrong._

“Aura,” Harry said a little more severely than he intended, which made her look up at him with anxious, confused eyes “Was this man the one you encountered in the Apothecary?”

“Ah, um… yeah?” Aura said tentatively, not understanding Harry’s reaction. He mentally cursed his luck; _of course_ she had encountered Snape in her only errand to Diagon Alley. Suppressing the urge to sigh tiredly, he simply crossed his arms before continuing to question “Did you discuss over the ingredients you purchased?”

“…He had the last vial.” was the attempt at justifying her actions, which made Harry shake his head disapprovingly.

“That was not the question. Let me phrase it differently, did your disagreement develop into a fight?”

“Of course not Hadrian-sama! Violence is bad!” she exclaimed childishly, knowing that her youthful appearance was an advantage commonly used to make the enemy underestimate her. This was her way of saying Harry hadn’t allowed fights in her mission, even if she couldn’t answer fully due to the wizards’ presence.

Deciding this conversation was going nowhere, he turned to face Snape, who was regarding him with something between disbelief and dread.

_…what exactly caused that reaction?_

“Professor Snape, I assume?” the man narrowed his eyes and gave a sharp nod, the dark gaze now completely focused on Harry. The action made him wonder why he was suddenly considered the bigger threat, but that was something he probably wouldn’t understand until he could listen to Aura’s report regarding their encounter.

“While I admit I don’t fully understand the situation, it seems I must apologize on Aura’s behalf.” the phrase made Aura lower her head in embarrassment, her body tensing in very-well-acted mortification. “She is young, so I suppose she may have acted a little recklessly… I will speak with her on this matter once we go back home, I assure you.”

He extended an arm to hug her shoulders, silently letting her know he wasn’t actually mad, and was only putting up a front for the wizards present in the office. He used to give this small speech whenever one of his sons caused trouble actually, so the act came perfectly natural, like a parent that was just waiting to arrive back home to scold their child at length.

Snape didn’t seem satisfied at all by his speech, but gave a curt nod either way. The Potions Master was still on guard however, the wand grasped so strongly that his knuckles were turning white. Harry wanted to excuse himself and leave Hogwarts, but just in that moment Dumbledore questioned to know how they had met each other.

 _Bloody great._ Harry just wanted to go back home, was that too much to ask?

It was even worse when neither Snape nor Aura answered the headmaster’s question. Deciding that he may as well listen to the teacher’s version, Harry turned to look expectantly at the man, whose expression had turned blank and still refused to speak.

Merlin this was _weird_.

“Is it alright if we listen to your version Professor? I’d like to make sure she doesn’t omit anything later.” Harry tried to do the parent-approach once more. Aura seemed to understand, since she crossed her arms and turned her gaze to the opposite direction, like a defiant child refusing to admit she had done something wrong.

Snape narrowed his eyes minutely at them, before finally opening his mouth to speak.

“Who are you?”

Well, that was certainly not what Harry expected him to say.

“Oh, that’s right. I apologize, Albus speaks so frequently about Hogwarts’ teachers it’s like I already know everyone.” he smiled sheepishly, nodding in greeting since he knew the other probably would refuse to shake hands “I am Lord Hadrian Peverell, pleased to make your acquaintance.”

If Snape was surprised to hear the last name ‘Peverell’ he certainly didn’t show it. The Potions Master simply turned to Dumbledore questioningly, as if for confirmation, which made the headmaster smile and nod, before tilting his head in curiosity.

“Did something happen Severus?”

“…That is the creature I met in Knocturn alley.” Dumbledore simply laid back on his seat, waiting for Snape to elaborate further, but Harry didn’t give him the chance.

“Her name is _Aura_.” Harry frowned defensively, which made Snape tense up even more. Dumbledore raised his hands to make calming motions, insisting they could discuss this calmly over warm tea, but was interrupted by the deafening sound of something _crashing_.

The anti-apparition wards that protected the Headmaster’s office had been completely _shattered_ , in a manner so forceful it disrupted the magic almost physically, the wards falling like broken, irregular pieces of glass around the walls of the office until they completely disappeared upon reaching the floor.

The source of this situation was the **[Gate]** that had appeared in the middle of the room.

Harry cursed loudly, in a manner that made Aura gasp since he usually tried not to use foul language when in front of the elf twins, before he turned to look at the clock that hung in the office, just above the numerous portraits of the previous headmasters.

A single minute after midnight, 12:01.

But Harry had told them he would return to the manor before the bloody day _ended_.

After a certain battle in Nazarik’s world almost claimed Entoma’s life, Harry had placed a new security measure. Any servants venturing outside would carry an item that worked like a locator, transmitting a signal Harry, Albedo and Demiurge could track, so they could send reinforcements if the situation called for it.

Harry, being who he was, didn’t carry any such thing.

… but Aura was a different story however.

Deducing the bunch of paranoid NPCs had come to Harry’s ‘rescue’, he reached the **[Gate]** with a quick movement, looking to the naked eye as if he had simply appeared next to it, and stuck his right arm through the portal.

The purpose of the hand motion was clear on Potter manor, a raised hand telling the worried NPCs to _stop_.

“Aura,” Harry all but barked, which made her straighten in attention and nod seriously at him “Go through and tell them everything is fine. I will go back once I’ve helped Albus place again the anti-apparition wards they just shattered.”

“Y-yes, but um, Hadrian-sama…” it was odd how Aura sounded so much like her brother in that sentence, but since Harry was obviously in a bad mood it was to be expected “That would leave you alone—“

Harry silenced her with a single look, annoyance practically oozing from him, before taking back his arm from the portal. He quirked an eyebrow and took a step to the side, so the path to the **[Gate]** was not obstructed by him anymore.

Aura understood her argument had been dismissed, so she walked towards the portal slowly, looking up at him with puppy eyes that begged for him to reconsider. Harry simply sighed and raised a hand to her shoulder when she reached the portal, looking impassively at her.

“I need to stay and repair this.” he muttered softly, and he wasn’t precisely talking only about the wards “I will be fine, so _go_.”

Aura lowered her head, looking miserably at the floor before she finally went through the **[Gate]** , the purple, magical access immediately closing after her. The silence in the room hung so heavily it could be cut with a knife, so Harry moved very, very slowly to face the wizards in the room, trying to decide how he was going to explain this to them.

_Merlin, this could not have been worse—_

“Albus!” a shout was heard along with the green flashing of the fireplace, as Mcgonagall joined them in the headmaster’s office “The griffin didn’t let me go through no matter how many times I said the password! What is—“

Her stern, but overall worried gaze quickly took notice of Harry’s presence in the room, which made her fall silent and take out her wand.

_Fucking great._

Harry repeated the motion he had made when he first met Dumbledore, slowly raising his sleeves to show he was unarmed. The action made Mcgonagall relax slightly, even if it had the opposite reaction on Snape. Harry wanted to curse at him, not really understanding why the man had to distrust him so much.

 _A wandless wizard was not supposed to be threatening at all goddammit_.

“Albus,” Harry called softly to the headmaster that was still immobile, standing behind his desk “Would you please block temporarily the fireplace? I’d rather if this situation wasn’t widely known.”

“Ah, of course.” Dumbledore finally snapped out of his shocked posture, making a wand motion directed at the fireplace, which made Snape practically snarl out.

“Dumbledore! Did you not see what just happened?!”

“Albus, what’s going on?” Mcgonagall immediately asked, looking at the three of them apprehensively. It was the same face she did when she suspected the Weasley twins had successfully pulled another prank, conveying the feeling of ‘Do I really want to now?’

“I think we should restart by renewing the anti-apparition wards, if that is fine with you?” Harry said serenely to Dumbledore, doing his best to ignore Snape’s fierce, distrustful gaze.

“That would be the best my boy. Minerva, if you could please support me?” Mcgonagall nodded at him, still confused, but trusting Dumbledore’s unperturbed mannerism as a telltale that everything was under control. They made the same wand motion, almost completely synchronized, which brought up the anti-apparition wards the **[Gate]** had easily shattered in the office.

Once that was done Dumbledore brought a third chair towards the front of his desk with a sharp wand movement, before sitting down on his own. Harry slowly approached the chair on the left and sat down, but neither Snape nor Mcgonagall used the other two vacant seats.

“Albus, what happened to the wards? I was afraid something had happened when I felt them going down—“ the head of Gryffindor started to say. As Deputy Headmistress, she was linked to the protective wards of Hogwarts, even if the only one capable of altering them was the current Headmaster.

Even when they had only shattered in the headmaster’s office, it had happened in a manner so violent that it was enough to unsettle the connection Mcgonagall had with them.

“Something _did_ happen” Snape interrupted her, dark eyes still meaningfully focused on Harry. He met the harsh gaze head on, nodding once in repentant confirmation before turning his head towards Mcgonagall.

“Please let me introduce myself. I am Lord Hadrian Peverell, and sadly, the one behind this unfortunate incident.” he said while lowering slightly his head at the three people present in the room “I apologize for the trouble I have caused.”

“What was _that_?”

“What happened?”

Both Head of House spoke at the same time, which made them briefly exchange a look, before Dumbledore spoke in a calming, although tired tone.

“You don’t have to explain if you don’t want to Harry.” the others, Snape particularly, seemed to want to protest upon hearing this statement, but Dumbledore simply continued with “No damage was done and it is quite late now… We can leave this discussion for another day, I am sure everyone must be tired.”

That seemed to work on the Head of Gryffindor, who looked worriedly at Dumbledore’s exhausted posture before her mouth formed a thin line, swallowing the words she had wanted to say. Snape narrowed his eyes at Harry before he too, focused on the headmaster, sharp eyes searching for something on the old face. Snape didn’t seem to like what he found, since he shook his head lightly in disagreement, but didn’t say anything else.

The headmaster had just played them masterfully, working on their worry about his current health to calm them down. It made Harry want to smile knowingly at him, but in the end he simply settled for a grateful nod before he stood up from his seat.

“Thank you Albus, in that case let us meet another day. Can you unblock the fireplace so I may return?” he requested softly to Dumbledore, who complied with a simple wand motion. Harry thanked him before bidding a good night to everyone present, Mcgonagall answering with a silent nod, while Snape simply ignored it, still watching carefully every single move Harry made.

Taking a fistful of Floo Powder, he called for the Leaky Cauldron before disappearing in a flash of harmless green flames. Upon arriving at the intended fireplace, he answered Tom’s greeting distractedly, going out of the pub with long strides towards the muggle world. He walked for a short while until he felt he was calm enough to greet the NPCs without giving them an earful, before he turned towards the first dark alley he found and apparated away to Potter Manor.

Unsurprised to see them waiting anxiously for his return, the NPCs gathered in the backyard knelt as one in front of him, heads hanging low in apparent distress.

“I assume Shalltear was the one to open the **[Gate]** ” it was not a question, but the vampire still nodded, looking at the grass as Harry had yet to give them permission to raise their heads “Did you all agree with that action? Answer yes or no only.”

After the smallest pause a synchronized chorus of ‘yes’ resounded from them, still looking down at Harry’s feet. He brought a hand to massage his brows, eyes closed as he mentally counted to ten to calm down before he spoke again, this time more softly.

“You may rise your heads.” his servants waited respectfully for a short moment before following the directive, looking up at him  apprehensively “I understand you only acted out of worry, but that was not the appropriate course of action. You should have sent me or Aura a **[Message]** if you wanted to inquire about our situation.”

“We tried, Hadrian-sama”. Albedo spoke as the representative, delicate brows furrowed in a mix of uneasiness and confusion “but the spell would not go through, as if the connection was blocked.”

Harry hummed in surprise at that, trying to recall if there was anything in Hogwarts that could cause that effect, but his thoughts came back empty. Deciding to think about it on a later date, he looked down to Albedo and quirked an eyebrow before inquiring “Why did you not send Lyre then?”

“There was not enough time—”

“Phoenixes can teleport to the places they have visited previously. It would not have been longer than the time it took you to write a note.” Albedo lowered her head, admitting reluctantly that it hadn’t crossed their minds. It was natural, if they had thought Harry and Aura were in danger, they had probably disregarded all other possibilities and tried to reach them as soon as possible. He could picture them moving hastily in panic around the manor _all too well_.

He nodded in understanding, asking them to rise. They stood up slowly, anxiously, but Harry simply shook his head in a resigned manner, somewhat used to this.

“I was not aware Hogwarts was protected against the use of **[Message]** , we will need to investigate on the matter. Did the **[Mirror of Remote View]** not work either?” he asked just to be sure, which made Albedo shake her head in negative.

“In that case, if a similar situation happens in the future, send Lyre to me and ask it to bring me back. No notes, no explanations, but a phoenix should drag less attention than the **[Gate]** you attempted to use today.” Harry reprimanded lightly, which made them straighten up steely and express their understanding. Satisfied at their answer, he dismissed them, requesting only Aura to stay. Once they were alone Harry crossed his arms and looked expectantly at her, which made her smile sheepishly at him before she began to recount her side of the events.

Aura started to explain how Snape had been the one to have the last ingredient, that the man had, for some reason, tried to attack her but she simply deviated the curse in response, before offering the basilisk venom in exchange of the vials with ingredients.

This summarized explanation was not enough for Harry to understand why Snape had acted in such a manner, so he asked Aura to close her eyes and focus on the memory, before he raised the tip of the Elder Wand to her temple and took a copy of it.

Dismissing her with a reassuring pat on her shoulder, just so she was aware he truly was not mad; Harry went directly to his personal chamber, wanting to reach the bottom of this before he had to cross paths with Snape again. Placing the memory in the pensieve, he watched it replay in front of him.

By the time it ended Harry was torn between cursing to the heavens and hitting his head against the nearest wall.

Aura had shown quite clearly how fast her reflexes really were and how strong she truly was. It had not been a proper fight, but it was enough for Snape to determine that she could go head on unarmed and still win easily.

She had, also, addressed Harry as her ‘Lord’, so now he completely understood why Snape had transferred his wariness from Aura to him at the mention of his name. Not only did that sound _way too similar_ to the manner Death Eaters addressed Voldemort, but the man probably wondered on the reason Harry was considered a leader to begin with. Power, intelligence, charisma; all of the above? The answer didn’t matter; it only served to make Harry a threat.

Harry passed a hand through his hair distressfully, which made Lyre sing to him from its perch. He looked at his familiar warmly, smiling at it when he realized not everything was against him. Having a phoenix as familiar was like screaming to the world he was a ‘Good wizard’ so that should, at least, dispel some of the distrust of the Potions Master.

The following day after that first encounter, in the late morning, Snape was pacing frantically in front of Dumbledore, having cancelled the Potion’s class he was supposed to be giving at this hour.

“By Merlin’s beard Dumbledore! I don’t care if that man has a bloody phoenix, that doesn’t make him any less dangerous!” Snape fumed, feeling even more infuriated at the calm, unpreoccupied expression that did nothing to cover Dumbledore’s amusement; blue eyes twinkling merrily from behind half-moon spectacles.

Snape felt torn between feeling affronted and feeling glad that those twinkling eyes were back. They had diminished when Dumbledore had started to use another wand (something the old man had refused to explain to any staff member) before it completely disappeared when Azkaban lost control over the dementors.

Begrudgingly, he admitted to be glad of the return of those shining eyes, if only to himself. The headmaster looked better rested, even if he had yet to recover completely from sleepless nights, his gaze was not as tired as it had been these past months. The attention span was infinitely larger as well; something Snape noticed when Dumbledore chuckled, instead of asking him to repeat himself.

“He does have one actually.”

“A what?”

“A phoenix.” was Dumbledore’s cheerful response. Snape sneered at that, quickly deciding that he had changed his mind, those damned twinkling eyes could go to hell for all he cared.

“That’s _not the point_.” he hissed, glaring at Dumbledore in a manner that usually made First years cry, but the headmaster simply smiled infuriatingly at him.

“I know Severus, I know. I cannot reveal much about him, but believe me when I say he has my complete trust.”

“ _Why?”_ he demanded, not for the first time.

“I have been tolerant enough to answer that question already,” said Dumbledore, but he did not sound very tolerant anymore. “My answer has not changed.”

“You admitted to not know what that— that _thing_ that appeared in the room is. How can you—?” Snape pressed unrelentingly, knowing better than anyone Dumbledore’s tendency to trust people in spite of overwhelming evidence that they did not deserve it.

“Severus” Dumbledore interrupted with a tone of finality, looking seriously at him “Please listen to me.”

“That’s what I’ve—”

“No Severus, you’re hearing, but you’re not _listening_.” Dumbledore stressed the last word, which made him humph in exasperation “I am sure. I trust Hadrian Peverell completely.”

“Well, I don’t!” he said, as loudly as before. He couldn’t continue pressing the matter however, since in that moment a patronus reached the office, a brilliant stag suddenly standing just at his left side.

“Good morning Albus. Do you have time for tea? I’d like to properly explain what happened last night.” Snape recognized the silky voice of the Lord he had met, the source of this whole discussion with Dumbledore, and frowned at the shining stag before it dispersed.

Dumbledore smiled and sent his phoenix patronus with an affirmative response, before looking at him with dumb, twinkling eyes.

“You will stay for tea, won’t you?”

 _Infuriating old coot_ , as if he would let Dumbledore meet with that man on Hogwarts grounds, like the events of the night prior hadn’t happened?

No way in hell.

He frowned and nodded sharply, sending his own doe patronus to the Potion’s class to let his students know he wasn’t going to arrive to this one either.

Refusing to take a seat, he positioned himself on the side of the room opposing the fireplace, waiting tensely for the ‘guest’ to arrive. Dumbledore in the meantime, called for Winky to request tea, something he didn’t really comprehend since that house elf was obviously incapable of following simple instructions; just like the dunderheads he was forced to tolerate and teach every year.

In the end, the set of tea had yet to arrive when the fireplace lit up, green flames flaring for a short moment before the man stepped into the room, shaking off the ashes from his robes with a few well-placed pats.

The motion made him narrow his eyes, why do that instead of using a wand? What kind of wizard would leave their home without their one and strongest tool? Snape had wondered the same last night, which made him tighten his hold over his own wand.

“Hello Albus, Professor Snape” Lord Peverell greeted amiably, smiling at them both. Snape wanted to scoff, noticing the magical bird that was perched over Hadrian’s shoulder, knowing fully well that Dumbledore was probably now looking at him with amused ‘I told you’ eyes.

The phoenix that had more golden feathers than red sang a short note while looking at Fawkes, which made Dumbledore’s familiar release a similar one. Hadrian made a small motion of the head, and the phoenix batted its wings to fly over to the perch Fawkes was currently at, doing odd noises that were similar to a conversation.

“Hello Harry” Dumbledore answered happily while Hadrian sat down. The nickname made him feel uncomfortable, since it reminded him of the Potter brat. They looked quite alike now that he thought of it, were the Peverells related to the Potters somewhere on the line?

Just then a resounding _Crack!_ signaled the entrance of the house elf, the creature holding the tray with shaky hands, which made the porcelain cups clink against each other. Hadrian quickly bent down to take the tray from Winky, rightfully fearful that it may end up falling to the floor, and placed it over the desk with a warm ‘Thanks’.

…Which was something no Pureblood Lord would ever do. Any other would have waited for the tray to fall and then punish the house elf, or stop the fall of the tray with magic.

A part of him could now see why Dumbledore got along with Hadrian.

“Severus, won’t you come take a seat?”

He glared at the headmaster in response, which made the old man sigh and apologize to Hadrian. The latter dismissed the issue with a hand motion, before starting to serve the tea.

It was only after everyone had their cup of tea (Snape had refused to have any) when Hadrian laid back on his seat with a relaxed sigh, making a circular motion with his empty hand.

Snape could feel the magic shift around them as a new ward was placed. _Did he make that wandlessly—?_

“Now that the privacy ward is up I can begin to explain” Hadrian said lightly, confirming his theory. The revelation made him tense, a wizard that was proficient at wandless magic was bound to have a terribly high control over their magical core, and be strong enough to be able to use it without the conduct the wand offered.

Now Snape understood why carrying a wand was not strictly necessary for him.

Ignorant of his thoughts, Hadrian simply sipped at his teacup calmly, the perfect picture of tranquility, before the words were finally released.

“But first” the man said turning his head to look at him, with emerald eyes that were just a shade darker than Lily’s had used to be “I spoke with Aura last night when I returned. I truly apologize for her behavior; there was no need to act so harshly for a simple vial of Bursting mushroom.”

Snape narrowed his eyes, frowning at Hadrian before deducing the man was not going to say anything else until he accepted the apology, so he nodded once at him. Hadrian smiled and thanked him, something he brushed aside as unimportant before the man turned towards Dumbledore once more.

“That being said, regarding the magic of last night… that portal was made by a spell created in our homeland. I admit I didn’t know it could get through anti-apparition wards like that though, that was new for me too.” _What did he mean by ‘homeland’? The country he came from?_

Dumbledore didn’t seem to share his confusion however, since the old man simply nodded in understanding before saying “I expected as much. What was the reason it was used however?”

The question made Hadrian sigh tiredly, placing the cup back to its small plate a little too harshly. Had the cup been filler, the tea in it would have splashed out.

“Remember when I said Aura is not the only one accompanying me?” Dumbledore nodded at the question, while he filed the information in the mental folder he was creating about the dangerous man “Well… I had sent a letter to them specifying I would return before the day ended, so when the clock reached midnight they started to worry, and decided to come to see if everything was fine.”

“They must be very fond of you, to come in your aid so fast. Not that it was needed of course, but the thought is certainly charming.” Dumbledore said warmly, taking the small spoon out of his teacup and placing it on the tray.

Hadrian chuckled, murmuring something that sounded like “You have no idea” as he sipped at his tea again.

“How many are traveling with you?” Snape spoke for the first time since Hadrian’s arrival, looking inquisitively at the man.

“Only seven. The rest of us stayed back in our land.” Hadrian said impassively with a light shrug.

“And where exactly is your _land_?” he scoffed, knowing fully well the man was mocking him for his lack of knowledge, purposely letting out that tidbit of information since Dumbledore seemed to know already.

“In a place no one can reach.” Hadrian smirked, which made Snape want to curse him “That is really not something you need to worry about. I will leave in due time, once my mission is fulfilled.”

“Harry” Dumbledore said warningly, silently asking with his eyes if he was sure this was something he wanted to say. Hadrian simply nodded at him however, before turning his head towards Snape again.

“I traveled to this country to avoid a second war, to definitely destroy Voldemort” the statement surprised him, even if he didn’t externally show it, but Hadrian didn’t seem to have finished “Professor Snape, do you know what a horcrux is?”

 _Merlin_!

“A horcrux” he whispered astonished, not paying attention at the silent exchange of looks between Dumbledore and Hadrian “That’s how he did it, he made a horcrux.”

“Not only one.” the words cut through his shock like a sharp knife, a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold traveling down his spine. Making a single horcrux was bad enough, terrible enough, _rotten_ enough; how many had Voldemort made?

 “Sit down, this will be a long conversation.” Hadrian said softly, extending a hand towards the vacant seat at his side.

“…Why are you telling me this?” the last traces of his distrust forced him to say, since this was not the kind of information you could share with just anyone. He was surprised to see Hadrian give him a sincere smile, one that seemed to hold so many emotions he couldn’t even begin to discern, before he answered with “Because I _know_. Of what you have gone through, of what you have done, both good and bad.”

The shock that had numbed him twisted upon hearing those words, transforming into something much more terrible.

Anger.

White knuckles from clenching his wand too hard, and gritted teeth from effort to remain silent, he was aware that his current posture exuded an animosity that was like acid — _burning_. His face was red with suppressed rage as he swung around to face Dumbledore with cold, freezing fury, thinking the old man had betrayed his trust. The action made Hadrian hurriedly add “Albus didn’t tell me, I can swear it under an Unbreakable Vow if you need me to.”

“Then how?” he roared, feeling exposed for the first time since Lily’s death “How do you know?”

“You told me.” Snape didn’t know what he had been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t _that bullshit._ The man continued before he could retort however “I don’t come from this timeline. A Severus Snape that was on the verge of death was the one to explain this to me… or well, show it to me would be more accurate.”

“Do you think me _stupid_?!“ he snarled, but the man simply shook his head and placed a vial with swirling, grey liquid over the desk’s surface. Memories.

“Go through them. If you still want to discuss afterwards I will hear you out.” Snape hesitated, looking harshly at Hadrian with clenched fists, the nails cutting at his skin until it drew blood.

“Please Severus.” Dumbledore spoke softly with a pleading gaze, which finally swayed him to stride closer, taking the vial with a quick, harsh motion that showed his anger.

“Fine.” he spat out the word as if it burned him, making a wand motion towards the cabinet where Dumbledore kept his pensieve “I will play along _for now_.”

Harry watched as the Potions Master left to use the pensieve, thankful for the fact that Snape hadn’t fired any curse at him.

It would have made Solution come out from her hiding place in the ceiling to interfere, and wouldn’t _that_ be fun to explain?

No matter how much Harry insisted the NPCs wouldn’t let him leave unaccompanied. He decided to agree with the loud request for their peace of mind, knowing they would worry needlessly if he didn’t bring someone along with him.

But at the same time, coming accompanied would have made Snape even more wary, which would in turn make it more difficult to break through his distrust, to make the stubborn man _listen_.

So he had chosen the Pleiade, giving her the order to remain undetected at all times. Solution had arrived with him through the fireplace, using her stealth skills to hide from everyone else. It wasn’t invisibility per se, but more something like melting through the ceiling and walls, so Dumbledore couldn’t see through her disguise not even with his special set of spectacles.

Solution couldn’t hear their conversation however, since Harry hadn’t included her on the privacy wards. He did this knowing that she would have reacted negatively towards Snape if she could hear the man, so the decision on whether Harry needed to be protected or not was based solely on what she saw.

“Are you sure Harry?” Dumbledore asked again, this time out loud instead of just conveying the question with a look. Harry smiled, gently answering with a couple of words.

“Albus Severus.”

He chuckled at the confused look the headmaster sent him, before elaborating “That was the name of my second child, named after the men that did everything in their power to keep me alive, to help me survive.”

Dumbledore inhaled sharply in surprise, letting out a shaky breath as he closed his eyes and processed the information.

“I feel honored.” Dumbledore’s eyes shined with unshed tears when he opened them, smiling brightly at him “I’m sure Severus would too, even if he never admitted it out loud.”

The comment made Harry snort; before he took the cup and drank the last sip of his tea “The portrait’s reaction when they first met was certainly something.”

They placed the empty set of tea in the unoccupied side of the desk and spoke calmly for a while, until Snape came back from seeing the memories.

“Prove it.” was the first thing he said, but the voice had completely lost all the bite it had before. Harry nodded at him, extending his right hand towards Snape.

“An Unbreakable Vow.” he explained simply, which made Snape take a hold of his hand before placing the tip of his wand over it. Harry repeated the same oaths he had made with Dumbledore, word by word, noticing how Snape flinched at the mention of the prophecy in the last vow.

Mimicking what he had done with Dumbledore, Harry looked up to meet the dark gaze, silently questioning if there was something to add, which made Snape voice a single statement.

“I hereby swear I won’t reveal your true origin to anyone that isn’t already present in this room, unless it is done with either yours or Dumbledore’s consent.” Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise, not having expected him to swear confidentiality, until the reason Snape did it dawned to him.

Nodding in silent understanding, Harry voiced the oath the other was expecting from him.

“I hereby swear I won’t reveal the reason you chose to join Dumbledore’s side to anyone that belongs to this period of time, unless it is done with your consent.” Snape narrowed his eyes at the condition, which made Harry shrug lightly while taking back his hand, before he elaborated “In the future there was a biography made about you, so that information is well-known for the ones accompanying me.”

In his defense, it was only a half-lie since the biography bit was true… even if said book was not the reason the NPCs knew about where Snape’s true loyalty laid.

The man sighed through his nose before nodding, _finally_ taking the vacant seat at Harry’s side. He felt oddly satisfied at the action, as if he had won a particularly hard conquest, before Snape’s next words brought him back to the present.

“How old are you then _Potter_?”

…Right, he would need to explain everything again. Mentally sighing, he took a breath to recite again the chain of facts he had given to Dumbledore, answering the questions thrown at him the best he could, sometimes even doing small demonstrations of spells he had learned in other worlds.

Knowing it was going to be another long day, he was glad that at least the NPCs were entertained back in Potter manor.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR NOTE:
> 
> Hi guys! How are you? There were more things I wanted to cover in this chapter, but as I started to write this is what happened haha I can’t say I’m not satisfied with the result however, writing Snape was certainly fun.
> 
> I can imagine as every class waited the whole hour out of the Potions classroom since Snape didn’t say anything after that last patronus was sent. The students would be too fearful to leave, and would stay awkwardly blocking the hallway until a Prefect or some other teacher gave them permission to “just leave already!”. Specially the first years *snickers*
> 
> The set of memories Harry gave to Snape was the one he originally sent to Dumbledore, just so you know.~
> 
> The meeting with student-Harry should be coming soon, maybe in a couple more chapters? I’m looking forward to write about the NPCs reactions! I have it as a draft at the moment, but it is sure to be interesting haha.
> 
> Oh well, I'd say this is April's chapter with 6.3K words = 15 pages in Word, but the next one may be ready within the month since I already have some 2K words as a draft. Wish me luck! Thanks for reading and hope you liked it~
> 
> P.D. Sorry if you’re waiting for my other story, that next chapter for that one is in draft with only 800 words in it haha. I think there will be another chapter for this one before I go back to writing Master of Death in Nazarik.
> 
> Nyx: Check out my stories as well!
> 
> dEBB: Most certainly please do!


	9. Horcruxes

**Chapter 8 Horcruxes**

It was already mid-afternoon when they finally reached the topic of horcruxes again.

“How many are there?” Snape inquired with a grave tone. Harry had the complete attention of both men since this wasn’t something Dumbledore could ask the day prior. It had been too much to process in too little time, not to mention that the prospect of using the resurrection ring had taken priority on the headmaster’s list.

“His soul is split in eight, if you consider the one that is in his current body.”

Harry watched as both men reacted to that terrible truth. Dumbledore closed his eyes, as if his worst fears had come true and he wasn’t willing to deal with them yet, while Snape drew in a sharp breath before falling silent in horrified shock. It may have been a trick of the light, but Harry could swear both of them had paled slightly.

“Seven containers, seven horcruxes… of course, the most powerfully magical number.” Dumbledore whispered, looking intensely at a random spot on the desk’s surface.

“Precisely.” he nodded in confirmation at the headmaster, before smirking confidently “Then again, three of them have already been destroyed.”

Snape looked incredulously at him, while Dumbledore simply nodded, unsurprised at the statement.

“Remember the Diary young Harry destroyed in his second year?” Albus elaborated looking at Snape, which made the man’s expression twist, as if he had swallowed a particularly sour lemon.

“You mean Potter destroyed a Horcrux when he wasn’t even a _teen_?”

“ _Potter_ most certainly did.” Harry replied with a playful smirk, which made Snape scoff at him. He chuckled at the way the man’s frown deepened, but couldn’t say anything else since Dumbledore spoke again.

“The ring would be the second, but that is the last I’m aware of. Which was the third?”

The Head of Slytherin frowned, taking a breath to inquire more on the ring but Harry beat him to it.  After all, he would rather not touch that particular topic at the moment.

“It was Slytherin’s locket.”

Dumbledore’s eyes lit up in recognition, so Harry guessed the headmaster had already gotten the set of memories regarding that particular horcrux.

“I destroyed it as soon as I found it, as it was necessary to recover the fourth horcrux, which was stored in Gringotts.” Harry felt something between amusement and pride when both men looked at him with disbelief. He felt like bragging about the way he had gotten Hufflepuff’s cup the first time, if only to see their reactions, so Harry leaned back in his chair and started the tale with an amused smile.

His effort was rewarded with Dumbledore’s twinkling eyes, seemingly entertained at the prospect of getting the hell out of Gringotts via riding a dragon, while Snape simply shook his head minutely while grunting “It is only dumb luck you survived _that._ ” under his breath.

“You would be surprised how many times we survived only with dumb luck,” Harry stated matter-of-factly at the Potion’s Master “Hermione used to play with the theory that we had felix felicis running in our veins instead of blood.”

Snape scorned at the playful tone, but couldn’t retort since Dumbledore spoke up first. “Since the Daily Prophet has yet to publish a dragon escaping from Gringotts using the main hallway,” the headmaster joked, smiling at him “I do suppose you used other, more discrete methods this time around.”

Harry smiled knowingly at Dumbledore, fully aware that the old man kept meddling in to make sure a discussion wouldn’t start between Harry and Snape, but couldn’t deny the effectiveness of the method.

“Hufflepuff’s cup was stored in Lestrange’s vault, so I simply needed someone from the Black family to get to it—“

“So _Black_ helped you?” Snape hissed, interrupting him. Harry raised an unimpressed eyebrow at the Slytherin, but Dumbledore was the one to answer that query.

“Sirius wouldn’t have been able to help Harry, since he is still regarded as an escaped convict.” the headmaster explained patiently to the Potion’s Master, who didn’t bother to hide the animosity he felt towards Sirius “I admit I’m curious, since Andromeda was disowned that would leave only Narcissa. Did you manage to convince her?”

Harry smiled meaningfully upon hearing Dumbledore’s hypothesis before shaking his head in negative “Not exactly. I don’t know if he will come at my call, but there’s no loss in trying—”

“Don’t break the wards _again_ —!”

“—Kreacher!”

Snape and Harry spoke at the same time. For a short moment nothing happened, before the familiar _Crack!_ echoed as the house elf appeared in the middle of the room. Kreacher glared distrustfully at Snape and Dumbledore, grunting low under his breath before the bloodshot eyes finally focused on Harry.

“Good Lord Peverell called for Kreacher?”

“Indeed; thank you for coming Kreacher. Could you do me a small favor and bring Master Regulus’ locket?” Harry requested softly, which made the house elf look indecisively at him, seemingly torn between complying with Harry’s request and refusing to take his precious treasure out of Grimmauld Place.

This internal dilemma lasted for a whole minute before the house elf decided that he owned too much to Harry to deny his request, which made the creature nod with an unsatisfied grumble before it disappeared again.

“The house elf of the Black family?” Snape inquired, raising an eyebrow at him “How did you manage _that_?”

“Sirius’ younger brother was a repentant Death Eater” Harry summarized with a shrug which made Snape’s eyes open a little wider in surprise. Harry mildly wondered if the two had worked together or used to be on good terms, that would explain how Snape had recognized the house elf so readily. “Regulus also happened to be Kreacher’s favorite Master— wait, he is about to come back.”

Not a moment afterwards the house elf returned, the burnt, unrecognizable piece of gold hanging from the chain that was tangled on long fingers.

“You used Fiendfyre.” Dumbledore stated, and Harry didn’t bother to correct him “If I may take a closer look, Kreacher?” the old man asked kindly, extending an awaiting hand.

Predictably, the house elf answered by glaring and bringing the burnt locket closer to its small body, now grasping it using both hands as if trying to hide it from Dumbledore.

“I give you my word; the locket will be returned to you. Master Regulus would have wanted you to keep it after all.” Harry reassured, which made the house elf hesitate again before he approached the desk with small, indecisive steps. The locket was offered to Dumbledore reluctantly, and the old man nodded and carefully took it from Kreacher’s long fingers, as if it was a delicate treasure.

The Headmaster turned the object, critical eyes evaluating the melted gold, before he used his wand to run diagnosis spells at it. Seemingly satisfied by his findings, Dumbledore returned the locket in the same careful manner he took it, which made Kreacher stand on his toes in his attempt to have it back just a second sooner.

“Thank you Kreacher. You may return to Black’s residence now.” Harry addressed the house elf, who seemed busy inspecting the melted gold as if to make sure Dumbledore hadn’t done anything to it.

Once satisfied, Kreacher nodded and bowed to Harry, completely ignoring the other two people on the room before disappearing with a loud _Crack_!

“I take back my words. Winky is a role model in comparison to that thing.” Snape commented with a scowl, which made Dumbledore chuckle before turning towards Harry.

“So those are the remains of the third horcrux. I wonder how young Regulus managed to acquire it…”

Harry smiled sadly at the inquiry, stating simply “By paying a heavy price, I assure you. Regulus gave the task of destroying Slytherin’s locket to Kreacher, as his final wish. And since I destroyed it, I managed to convince Kreacher to help me get Hufflepuff’s cup from the Lestrange Vault.” Harry continued before standing up, raising a hand theatrically. “I will summon it here.”

Before any of the men could react, Harry silently activated an Yggdrasil’s spell.

**[Time stop]**

Making sure to affect only Dumbledore and Snape, Harry made a signal for Solution to come down from the ceiling.

“Hadrian-sama, should I−?”

“Ah, please ignore him. Is nothing personal, he hates pretty much anything that moves.” Harry immediately dismissed upon seeing the way Solution glared at Snape.

“…Still, to scowl at Hadrian-sama in such a way…” Solution frowned heavily. He was glad to have excluded her from the wards, had she listened to Snape, Harry probably wouldn’t have been able to interfere on time.

“Thank you, but there’s no need to act on it.” Harry said while patting Solution’s shoulder, which made her immediately relax and smile sweetly at him. “Consider it an order, ignore everything that man does unless it is to personally harm me.”

“Understood.” While still unconvinced, Solution bowed deeply at the acceptance of his order, now with a serious expression on her face. The action made Harry nod approvingly before continuing.

“Good. Now then, give me the cup we recovered from the Wizarding Bank. The effect will stop soon.” Harry stated, since he had been paying attention to the time passed since its activation.

Solution placed a hand on her cleavage and pressed until it went through, before taking out the cursed cup of gold. Taking it with both hands, Solution bowed before offering the object to him.

“Thank you. You can go back to your hiding position now, don’t come out unless I call for you.”

Solution nodded and hid, just in time as the effect of **[Time stop]** reached its end.

“How did it…?” Snape muttered under his breath, since the Cup had suddenly materialized from their perspective. Harry wouldn’t have heard him if he weren’t already expecting that kind of reaction.

“Pay it no heed.” Harry shrugged with a secretive smile before placing Hufflepuff’s cup over the desk. “Since Albus destroyed one already, I believe this one should go down by your hand.”

He took the base of the cup and slid it towards Snape. The Potions Master looked at it, frowning in apprehension and… disgust?

Ah, this was the first time he was exposed at the Horcrux’s dark magic, wasn’t he?

“To believe the Dark Lord made seven of these…” Snape muttered as Dumbledore made a wand motion, summoning the Sorting Hat. The Potions Master quirked an eyebrow at the action, which made Dumbledore smile twinklingly at him before taking out Gryffindor’s sword.

To Snape’s credit, the slight widening of the dark eyes would have been impossible to detect if Harry didn’t had such a good eyesight.

“A goblin-made sword, covered in Basilisk’s venom thanks to _Potter’s_ little adventure on second year.” Harry said playfully, smirking at the fed up _humph_ that was released from Snape.

Still, oddly enough, the teacher didn’t take the sword that Dumbledore offered.

“That girl… Aura. She gave me basilisk venom.” Snape stated matter-of-factly as he turned to focus on Harry, which made him smile in amusement.

“Well, I needed money to live here. I figured a Basilisk was more than enough to obtain it.” He replied to the unspoken question with a careless shrug, before nodding at the man “I assume you want to use that small amount to destroy it? Go ahead. If you need more venom for potions, I can take you down to the Chamber of Secrets some other time.”

Although he said this about potions, Harry actually made eye contact with the two men, the offer available for both. Dumbledore’s gaze brightened at the prospect of going into such an ancient chamber, and even Snape’s dark eyes seemed livelier all of the sudden.

“I’d love to Harry.” Dumbledore smiled at him while Snape simply nodded in agreement, before reaching into his pocket to take out the small little flask with yellowish liquid.

“You carried it with you?” Harry asked in surprise, considering how insecure would it be if the flask was broken or stolen. This question, oddly enough, only made Snape turn away from him however.

“…I suspected you. Did you think I’d be unprepared for battle?” Snape replied unemotionally after a small pause, gaze focused on Hufflepuff’s cup.

Woah, so Snape would have tried to poison him if he had been a threat? Maybe just thrown it at him so it would burn off his skin like acid?

Harry mentally whistled, suddenly remembering that Snape had been, in fact, one of the scariest men he had met on his first life. It wouldn’t have worked since Harry had resistance against poison and **[Burned]** negative status, but considering this plan would have been efficient even on the Dark Lord himself, he couldn’t help but be somewhat impressed.

Choosing not to comment on it, since it seemed to make the other uncomfortable, Harry simply nodded in acceptance and took a step back. Dumbledore also placed some distance, watching with attentive gaze as Snape opened the vial and poured a single drop over the horcrux.

A pained scream resounded loudly within the field of Harry’s privacy wards. The part of the cup that had received that drop burned all the way through, like a knife going through butter, and it was quickly followed by even more drops of venom.

It was an oddly slow way of killing a horcrux, which wasn’t good at all.

Harry immediately tensed, summoning his elder wand and pointing it at the cup to contain the harmful magic that was attempting to lash out at Snape in self-defense. The Potions Master threw him a confused look for a moment, but seemed to dismiss the action as he poured even more venom on the horcrux.

The howls of pain resounded for a whole minute, until the cup was finally too melted to hold the small piece of Voldemort’s soul any longer.

It was fitting considering Snape was a Potions Master, but that flask should have been completely poured at once, not slowly as the man had done. Still, looking at the satisfied expression Snape wore, Harry chose not the bring up the topic as he lowered his wand and relaxed his tense posture.

“That was dangerous Severus.” Dumbledore reprimanded what Harry had chosen not to. “Did you really believe it would not try to defend itself?”

“I’d have been able to counter it.” Snape muttered distractedly, gaze still focused on the destroyed cup. The man’s posture was oddly relaxed, as if this had served as a therapy of sorts.

Choosing not to mention anything about this, Harry simply stepped closer to pick up the remnants of the cup.

“Another one down then.” Harry commented after studying the unrecognizable piece of gold, turning the melted piece on his hand to see it from all angles “This should be enough for today.”

Darkness was beginning to eat out the sky, with only a few weak rays of the sun visible on the border. Harry suspected dinner would begin soon on the Great Hall, so he made a hand motion to turn off his privacy wards, thus Solution could hear him once more.

“Let’s leave the rest for another−“ Harry started to say before suddenly halting “What is this?” he whispered, not recognizing the message his wards were conveying.

His wards had been… not broken, but the sensory one was…

 “Is everything all right? Harry?”

“Hm?” Dumbledore’s voice snapped him out of his pensive status, but Harry still was frowning in confusion. “I believe so? It doesn’t feel like something urgent. It’s still odd however… ah, I’ll check it and be done with it.”

Harry thought out loud, ignoring the confusion of both men before turning on his heel to go out of the Headmaster’s room.

“Wait, why are you going to Hogwarts?” Snape’s voice sounded from somewhere behind him, but Harry didn’t turn around to look.

“Need to check something real quick. I’ll be careful not to be seen, no worries.” Harry replied lightly, making himself invisible, silent and odorless with a couple of wand motions, elder wand suddenly on his hand.

For some reason, he felt the wards around the Vanishing cabinet emitting a signal. But no one in this world should be able to trespass them by force, and they didn’t feel broken at all…

**—An hour earlier—**

While Harry and Solution were present on the Headmaster’s office, back in Potter Manor, the rest of the NPCs were gathered in a single room; the Library.

Back in Nazarick’s world, they had been forced to learn the written symbols used by the nearby Kingdoms, so they would not depend on magical items to traduce documents for them. In addition to these new languages, English was also necessary, so they could understand the books Hadrian-sama tended to lend to them.

The only language everyone had known originally had been Japanese, since it was the one used for all the books that were held on Nazarick’s massive library ‘Ashurbanipal’, located on the 10th Floor. It had taken a while, but in the end most of Nazarick’s population could read these few languages without much issue.

Right now, all of them were distributed among the spacious room in Potter manor, each of them reading a book.

“W-we are being treated like children a-again” Mare muttered softly, his words resounding in the otherwise silent room.

No one could really object his statement.

They were, sadly, knowledgeable of the way Hadrian-sama reacted whenever he was disappointed, whenever they made a mistake or failed to fulfill his expectative. Their Master would sigh and give them a new, easy-to-fulfill order as if testing them, something so easy to perform there was no way to fail the task.

This was the reason all of them were currently gathered in the library, with an order to “search for the main cause neither **[Message]** nor the **[Mirror of Remote View]** had worked.” The library had enough books that assigning this to all of them was somewhat understandable, and it was impossible to fail since even if they didn’t find the right answer, it would be due to the lack of information gathered in the library and no fault would befall on them.

“Hadrian-sama is the kindest Master, tolerating our shameful mistakes without exerting a severe punishment.” Sebas was the first to answer, icy blue eyes looking at Mare with something akin to reprimand.

“That is precisely what makes it effective… As expected of a Supreme Being, such a perfect punishment would not be possible without complete understanding of our personalities.” Demiurge was the second to speak, closing the book he had just finished a little too harshly, the sound echoing in the library.

There was no need to explain what he meant, everyone present understood his words.

For them, the servants that would do everything in their power to properly aid their Master, they would rather atone for their sins with death, or intense pain as the lightest of punishments. Even some years imprisoned or the restriction of some liberties would be better than _this_.

They had been created to fulfill the expectative of the Supreme Beings, failing on that was not only a grave crime on itself, but also was an offense to their creators. Each and every single one of them had been created by a Supreme Being, which meant they were made with the characteristics needed to properly fulfill their tasks. So what did it mean for their creators when their servants, their creations, were inadequate?

A light punishment like this one was terribly _unsatisfying_. They felt the need to repent, the need to prove themselves capable as if there was something crawling under their skin like a very real, essential obligation.

None of them was aware that Harry’s true motive behind the light punishment, the easy-to-follow order, was meant to calm them down and help them build up confidence again.

“We _will_ find the answer; it is the least we can do to pay back Hadrian-sama’s amiability.” Albedo stated from her position near the back of the library, looking at the rest of the NPCs gathered in the room “Even if the answer is not here.”

“Hmm? What will we do if the answer is not in the Manor?” Shalltear directed her question to the Guardian’s overseer, delicate brows furrowed in confusion “Where else can we search?”

Albedo smiled at the vampire before turning her golden gaze towards the unassuming cabinet behind her, determined words traveling around the silent room with ease.

“Sebas _did_ mention that this piece of furniture is actually a Gateway to Hogwarts.”

“I see; according to ‘ _Hogwarts a History’_ the school is renowned for its extensive library.” Demiurge nodded in agreement, looking with interest at the Vanishing Cabinet as well.

“Is it really ok for us to go through? Hadrian-sama said to search on the Manor’s library after all.” Aura questioned insecurely, not quite willing to risk her Master’s discontent.

“Hadrian-sama didn’t say we had to stay, and all of us already have our illusory runes. Leaving this library if it proves to be unsatisfactory should not cause any problems.” Demiurge answered Aura’s inquiry with a reassuring nod, before turning towards the succubus “Dividing us in three groups to search on Diagon Alley and Knocturn Alley as well would be the best method.”

“It must be what Hadrian-sama expects from us.” Albedo agreed with an angelic smile, wings flapping once in anticipation.

The others shared a silent look, but in the end nodded in agreement. If Albedo and Demiurge thought that was the best course of action, the probability of them being right was high.

There was, surely, no better way to fix their mistake.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR NOTE:
> 
> I think Harry would tease Snape to death if Dumbledore wasn’t there to stop them from discussing haha.
> 
> As you may have surmised, Harry felt as the cabinet was used, but the wards weren’t trespassed since the NPCs and Harry were keyed into them in the first place. Harry is going to investigate by checking the Cabinet’s pair at Hogwarts, since the NPCs would surely had sent Lyre with a message if an intruder had suddenly gone into the Manor.
> 
> Well, the first meeting of the NPCs with Student!Harry is finally coming next chapter!! It’s going to be interesting~
> 
> Ah, I can’t believe that, in almost a year, I’ve only written 8 chapters for this story. So saaad! I should pick up the pace on this one, considering this fic is meant to have less chapters than the other ones to be completed.
> 
> On another note, I own an apology to my dear Beta Reader Nyx. I was sure I had updated the last few chapters with his corrections, but it seems I only did so in AO3, so fanfiction.net was left with the other version until just recently. I’m sorry! I really thought I had updated this site too! Thank you for helping me with grammar issues, it’s really appreciated >w<
> 
> On another note, I’ve just started a new story named “Raid Boss” here in this site, same X-over section. I hereby invite you to take a look~
> 
> This chapter was short (sorry it took me so damn long to publish, considering the reduced length) with 3.7K words = 9 pages in Word.
> 
> Thanks for reading and hope you liked it! See ya’ soon~
> 
> I’ll be trying to publish a new chapter on my three stories at the same time, so if you’re reading this one I invite you to take a look to the other 2 as well. Happy reading!


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